The X Files

[malcy30]

Originally Posted by probedb

If you read around these and other US forums Fox's policies around releasing TV series aren't very good, not even releasing new series, let along old ones. I'll be happy if it happens but I'm not guessing when that's likely.

Fox have pulled back from TV on BD for what they consider their lower tier in terms of sales on BD shows. So even though earlier seasons are on BD shows like Bones, The Americans and The Bridge have moved to DVD only for the latest releases or HD streaming / downloads only.

They have only kept BD for a very few shows like Homeland and I guess these are at risk of being dropped.

This contrasts to CBS / Paramount where at least some shows continue on BD like Under the Dome, Extant (limited countries only) and Hawaii 5-0 (limited countries only) plus the Star Trek remasters. So they are showing some willingness but not much.

About the only studio commited to BD is HBO (Warner) with most of their shows coming out on BD.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by malcy30

Fox have pulled back from TV on BD for what they consider their lower tier in terms of sales on BD shows. So even though earlier seasons are on BD shows like Bones, The Americans and The Bridge have moved to DVD only for the latest releases or HD streaming / downloads only.

I think the average consumer, has got to the point where if they have the show recorded or available through streaming in HD, they're happy. The good thing The X-Files has going for it, is that there isn't really content out there. Unfortunately studios are prone to compete with themselves making physical media a poor business decision. The only chance old shows have of been successful on Blu-ray is if they're exclusive. Once they're available elsewhere you lose a lot of potential audience.

[Buzz201]

Originally Posted by malcy30

Fox have pulled back from TV on BD for what they consider their lower tier in terms of sales on BD shows. So even though earlier seasons are on BD shows like Bones, The Americans and The Bridge have moved to DVD only for the latest releases or HD streaming / downloads only.

They have only kept BD for a very few shows like Homeland and I guess these are at risk of being dropped.

This contrasts to CBS / Paramount where at least some shows continue on BD like Under the Dome, Extant (limited countries only) and Hawaii 5-0 (limited countries only) plus the Star Trek remasters. So they are showing some willingness but not much.

About the only studio commited to BD is HBO (Warner) with most of their shows coming out on BD.

Warner Bros. still manage to release most (as far as I can see, all, but I'm probably forgetting a few) of their dramas on BD.

It's Universal that has no seemingly consistent policy for their shows, from the looks of it, it's cult shows (Grimm, Bates Motel, Defiance) get an international release, and then they'll go back and do procedurals if they become popular, but for Europe and Australia only. But that doesn't explain why Chicago Fire got one as soon as possible after airing...

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Blu MacReady

Really? Makes me wonder about what type of tool they have making decisions. This is a massively popular series that has many requesting a blu Ray set. Yet so much tripe is released with less then half the fan base, but they still need to wait and know if this series would sell?? Unbelievable.

The TNG Blu-rays pretty much tanked, and given how X-Files underwent a similarly expensive rebuild (even with less VFX it's got two more seasons than TNG) I should imagine that Fox kept a keen eye on the TNG sales figures. A few guys drooling over caps on an internet forum won't be enough, there's got to be a clear incentive for Fox to get these discs out there. And the thing about Fox apparently waiting for a new iteration of the show before releasing the BDs sounds fine in theory, but they didn't do it for 24...

[CouncilSpectre]

Wonder how the Twin Peaks revival worked? Bringing it back because the BDs have done well, BDs brought out because they already knew it was coming back, or complete coincidence?

Anyway, I'm still waiting for The West Wing on BD, that was remastered years ago and still no sign.....

[Geoff D]

No way did the TP revival just happen on the back of the release of the Blu-rays, although Lynch being so involved with the production of the set may have been what got the wheels turning again.

[mredman]

Originally Posted by malcy30

Fox have pulled back from TV on BD for what they consider their lower tier in terms of sales on BD shows. So even though earlier seasons are on BD shows like Bones, The Americans and The Bridge have moved to DVD only for the latest releases or HD streaming / downloads only.

They have only kept BD for a very few shows like Homeland and I guess these are at risk of being dropped.

This contrasts to CBS / Paramount where at least some shows continue on BD like Under the Dome, Extant (limited countries only) and Hawaii 5-0 (limited countries only) plus the Star Trek remasters. So they are showing some willingness but not much.

About the only studio commited to BD is HBO (Warner) with most of their shows coming out on BD.

I think you are exaggerating here. FOX gave up on "some" shows on Blu Ray because these shows you mentioned did not sell. I am pissed about Americans but lets face it the show is really lowrated and its target audience is not really the young crowd either or Blu Ray crowd its a spy drama for adults there is hardly any action in it to. Bones is a procedural lowsales and Bridge got cancelled.

FOX release plenty of tv shows on Blu Ray that the target audience is Blu Ray crowd like Homeland, SOA, Vikings, AHS, Strain, Sleepy Hollow i can't remember if there is more

[Ste7en]

They aren't bringing out any more Modern Family seasons on BD.

Shame

[phelings]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

The TNG Blu-rays pretty much tanked,

Not surprising at the prices .
I have 6 seasons so far and paid well under £20 for each one.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by phelings

Not surprising at the prices .
I have 6 seasons so far and paid well under £20 for each one.

I'm sure the sale prices have boosted CBS's sales considerably. They were priced high initially. Probably too high for a lot of fans. The recent sales have been their first opportunity to buy them. Even if they did drop down in the first few months a lot of people were worried that they might only be able to pick up one season at the low price so they put off the purchase.

The Star Trek TOS sets have remained high for years. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that CBS has made more money in the last few months than they've done since The Next Generation was launched on Blu-ray 3 years ago.

If The X-Files is released they'll have to price them realistically, you just can't charge £50 for a season of a TV show on BD and expect it sell in the hundreds of thousands. Some of the TNG sets haven't sold 15, 000 copies in the US. You could have given them away with autographs at a convention and made more sales!

[Geoff D]

I wouldn't start celebrating just yet chip. If CBS shift x amount of units at full price and then twice the amount for half the price they've still got the same amount of money coming in each time. Face it, the sales of TNG in the market that matters most to them - North America - have been pretty darned poor.

If their prices had dropped like ours did at various points then perhaps things would've been different, but for several years now we've enjoyed tremendously low prices on most multi-disc sets in the UK (Warners movies in particular) whereas they tend to stay stubbornly high in the US.

It just hasn't happened like they wanted it to with TNG, and no amount of reduced price sales (or US importing of the ridonkulously cheap complete UK set) is gonna make up for the disappointment felt in the corridors of power at CBS.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I wouldn't start celebrating just yet chip. If CBS shift x amount of units at full price and then twice the amount for half the price they've still got the same amount of money coming in each time. Face it, the sales of TNG in the market that matters most to them - North America - have been pretty darned poor.

If their prices had dropped like ours did at various points then perhaps things would've been different, but for several years now we've enjoyed tremendously low prices on most multi-disc sets in the UK (Warners movies in particular) whereas they tend to stay stubbornly high in the US.

It just hasn't happened like they wanted it to with TNG, and no amount of reduced price sales (or US importing of the ridonkulously cheap complete UK set) is gonna make up for the disappointment felt in the corridors of power at CBS.

No you're right, something terrible went wrong with The Next Generation's BD releases and that needs to be fixed for Deep Space Nine or The X-Files releases. DS9 would have a tougher time than TNG and TXF. To put the figures in perspective. Frozen sold over 7 million units in the US last year in a country of over 100 million households and that seems a small number. Game of Thrones Season Three sold 365 thousand copies. If the TNG figures were correct none of the sets sold over 20 thousand copies.

If TNG didn't sell and by all accounts it's one of the best-loved shows presented superbly it does make me worry, that unless it's brand new content, todays consumers aren't really interested.

[Geoff D]

Perhaps the thing that didn't work in TNG's favour is that it's Star Trek, i.e. it's a series that has been repackaged and resold so many times that even the hardcore fans baulked at paying out again, and you only have to look at the comments in the main TNG BD threads to see how many people held off because of the prices. The same could've been said of TOS remastered, but with only three seasons it didn't represent a 'long term' investment like TNG's seven seasons did. And if something as popular TNG tanks, then you know that DS9 will be lucky to sell a few hundred copies every time.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Perhaps the thing that didn't work in TNG's favour is that it's Star Trek, i.e. it's a series that has been repackaged and resold so many times that even the hardcore fans baulked at paying out again, and you only have to look at the comments in the main TNG BD threads to see how many people held off because of the prices. The same could've been said of TOS remastered, but with only three seasons it didn't represent a 'long term' investment like TNG's seven seasons did. And if something as popular TNG tanks, then you know that DS9 will be lucky to sell a few hundred copies every time.

It seems to be the nature of home video, that the better the quality gets, the less we want to purchase it. We all rushed out for VHS copies, then jumped on DVDs for their convenience but now when it's never looked as good we think back on all our previous purchase and hesitate! Third time is definitely not a charm!

[Patient-X]

Originally Posted by chip75

It seems to be the nature of home video, that the better the quality gets, the less we want to purchase it. We all rushed out for VHS copies, then jumped on DVDs for their convenience but now when it's never looked as good we think back on all our previous purchase and hesitate! Third time is definitely not a charm!

As much as I love the Xfiles I really couldn't justify buying them again. I paid £50-£60 a season for the VHS box sets then bought the DVD box sets. Same story with TNG, I bought all the double episode VHS cassettes then replaced them with the DVD box sets, which is why I haven't upgraded those to Blu-ray. Plus, if I did, the Mrs would surgically remove my valuables.

[roguejp]

Just curious: what is the source of those sale figures of TNG?

I'm also curious how the sets sold in Germany; it's a very large blu-ray market and Star Trek is also big there.

[Bumblefeet]

What are you on about? Star Trek TNG sold very well on blu-ray, even the individual releases with the two-parters. If those first seasons had barely sold, they'd never continued remastering them as these are quite expensive to do.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Patient-X

As much as I love the Xfiles I really couldn't justify buying them again. I paid £50-£60 a season for the VHS box sets then bought the DVD box sets. Same story with TNG, I bought all the double episode VHS cassettes then replaced them with the DVD box sets, which is why I haven't upgraded those to Blu-ray. Plus, if I did, the Mrs would surgically remove my valuables.

It's just a shame that the original DVDs aren't great quality, they're perfectly acceptable to watch on a HDTV but they could be a whole lot better, TNG is the same, the DVDs weren't that great but people spent a lot of money on them and can't justify paying more again. I'm happy to wait for price drops but if studios are looking at initial sales then I doubt I'll be one of them!

Originally Posted by roguejp

Just curious: what is the source of those sale figures of TNG?

I'm also curious how the sets sold in Germany; it's a very large blu-ray market and Star Trek is also big there.

It's quite hard to find sales figures but they're from here. But I can't seem to get the search engine to work.

The best new release of the week was Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season One, which sold 95,000 units and generated $5.73 million in revenue. This revenue was tops for the week. This is an excellent start for a TV on DVD release, especially one that's not a first-run release.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Bumblefeet

What are you on about? Star Trek TNG sold very well on blu-ray, even the individual releases with the two-parters. If those first seasons had barely sold, they'd never continued remastering them as these are quite expensive to do.

Define very well? By most accounts they've been a disaster and they were remastered for syndication not Blu-ray sales!

[phelings]

Originally Posted by Bumblefeet

What are you on about? Star Trek TNG sold very well on blu-ray, even the individual releases with the two-parters. If those first seasons had barely sold, they'd never continued remastering them as these are quite expensive to do.

The income from Bluray sales would be considered a drop in the ocean compared to the income from tv sales generated by the future proofing they've done.
Had the Bluray sets done exceptionally badly the restoration would have continued but the Blurays releases may not have done.

As we have seen there are lots of series out there for which HD versions exist but not a Bluray release.
HD restorations are necessary to make these shows saleable in the tv market.

But the dwindling sales of Blurays will affect whether we get them on disc.

I have no doubt that HD restorations for DS9 and Voyager will be done because they have to in order to keep them selling to tv but they may be delayed until its possible to do the work cheaper than at present and if they are done disc releases are not certain by any means