robby76
09-12-2005, 09:53 AM
Longer life sought for TV DVD titles
Warner’s Friends plans closely watched as final season is released
By Susanne Ault 9/2/2005
SEPT. 2 | Studios are performing plenty of tricks to extend the life of aging, successful TV DVD franchises, but results aren’t always magical at retail.
Complete series product such as HBO Video’s upcoming Sex and the City $299.95 box set might boost the canceled series on disc. And 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment similarly is juicing its X-Files and Futurama franchises with repackaged themed episodes.
Other suppliers, such as Anchor Bay Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment, like to rush out sets in order to maximize impact on consumers. But some retailers believe that only shows with the most fervent fan bases will support pricey complete-series releases.
Sex and the City has been the top-earning TV DVD franchise, with $251.5 million in revenue, according to Adams Media Research. Friends is an impressive second, with $242.6 million in revenue, but some store owners say they hope Warner Home Video holds back on a complete series set.
The studio launches its 10th and last full season set of Friends on Nov. 15. The studio says it plans to roll out further Friends product in 2006, but a spokeswoman declined to elaborate on title specifics.
“You might be stretching it with Friends,” Tower DVD advertising manager Terrel Porter-Smith said. “There’s only a couple of series that can pull off [ultra premium product]. Fans are so loyal for Sex and the City. They’ll buy anything you make.”
HBO VP marketing Sofia Chang confirms that retailers across the board, including budget conscious mass merchants, are stocking the deluxe set. Many show fans likely own most season sets. But HBO is aiming to offer episodes as if they are brand spanking new.
“Packaging is so important,” Chang said. “It’s [in the spirit] of our metal packaging for Band of Brothers and coffin treatment for Six Feet Under. We have groundbreaking product, so the presentation of it must reflect that.”
With rollout schemes to enhance TV DVD lifespans all over the map, some retailers think studios would be better served by simplifying their efforts.
“Personally, what all the studios need to do is just go back and lower the price on the first seasons,” Porter-Smith said. “There are so many programs, it’s like, give me a break! I think we need to get the first season marked [down] to around $15. Consumers will go for it.”
Themed product is proving hit and miss with retailers.
Newbury Comics has been impressed that a volume of X-Files: Mythology usually manages to sell a third of what a full season of X-Files might. Yet other stores noted that typically themed sets sell just one-tenth of a full season counterpart.
“Themed collections like The X-Files and The Simpsons have a limited appeal,” Virgin Entertainment Group buyer Chris Anstey said. “Occasionally, we’ll see success with themed collections, when the full series aren’t yet available, such as the modern Outer Limits shows.”
Retailers did applaud clipped themed sets that were significantly cheaper than full seasons.
“Family Guy: The Freakin’ Sweet Collection [from Fox] is a good entry-level product,” Newbury buyer Ian Leshin said. “People can pay about $15 for a few quality episodes, rather than $35 for a whole season.”
On Sept. 27, Warner will release best-of sets of Maverick and F-Troop, each holding a handful of episodes at a $9.97 apiece list price. Full seasons have not yet streeted.
“Complete sets are the preferential way to watch TV, but this is a way for Warner to test the waters, to see if it’s even warranted to start bringing them out in a big way,” National Entertainment Buyers Group president Todd Zaganiacz said.
Release timing can make or break the duration of a TV series.
For highly successful series, including The Simpsons and Seinfeld, studios seem to agree to take their time on releases to prolong their fortunes. These two shows have collected $229.5 million and $179 million, in respective revenue.
The Simpsons will start its 17th broadcast season in mid-September but is on its sixth season on DVD. Four of the available nine broadcast Seinfeld seasons have been released on DVD.
But retailers believe that certain shows have been depleted too fast.
Anchor Bay released all three seasons of The Greatest American Hero between February and July of this year. Paramount has been criticized for burning through certain Star Trek shows unnecessarily.
“Stretching out shows gives customers enough time to ingest the shows they bought before they want more, and it will build demand,” Virgin’s Anstey said. “Definitely, Star Trek: The Next Generation was released too close together—everything in the span of one year. Also, [Image Entertainment’s] The Dick Van Dyke Show came out in two-month intervals, which is too close for sets [featuring] 30 episodes.”
Hastings Entertainment reports sales for the second set of Greatest American Hero were too far below its strong first-season sales.
“It tracked half as well as the first,” Hastings marketing director Mason Goodfellow said. “It was basically a month between the two. That doesn’t give the customer enough time to finish the first set.”
E-mail Susanne Ault
Warner’s Friends plans closely watched as final season is released
By Susanne Ault 9/2/2005
SEPT. 2 | Studios are performing plenty of tricks to extend the life of aging, successful TV DVD franchises, but results aren’t always magical at retail.
Complete series product such as HBO Video’s upcoming Sex and the City $299.95 box set might boost the canceled series on disc. And 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment similarly is juicing its X-Files and Futurama franchises with repackaged themed episodes.
Other suppliers, such as Anchor Bay Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment, like to rush out sets in order to maximize impact on consumers. But some retailers believe that only shows with the most fervent fan bases will support pricey complete-series releases.
Sex and the City has been the top-earning TV DVD franchise, with $251.5 million in revenue, according to Adams Media Research. Friends is an impressive second, with $242.6 million in revenue, but some store owners say they hope Warner Home Video holds back on a complete series set.
The studio launches its 10th and last full season set of Friends on Nov. 15. The studio says it plans to roll out further Friends product in 2006, but a spokeswoman declined to elaborate on title specifics.
“You might be stretching it with Friends,” Tower DVD advertising manager Terrel Porter-Smith said. “There’s only a couple of series that can pull off [ultra premium product]. Fans are so loyal for Sex and the City. They’ll buy anything you make.”
HBO VP marketing Sofia Chang confirms that retailers across the board, including budget conscious mass merchants, are stocking the deluxe set. Many show fans likely own most season sets. But HBO is aiming to offer episodes as if they are brand spanking new.
“Packaging is so important,” Chang said. “It’s [in the spirit] of our metal packaging for Band of Brothers and coffin treatment for Six Feet Under. We have groundbreaking product, so the presentation of it must reflect that.”
With rollout schemes to enhance TV DVD lifespans all over the map, some retailers think studios would be better served by simplifying their efforts.
“Personally, what all the studios need to do is just go back and lower the price on the first seasons,” Porter-Smith said. “There are so many programs, it’s like, give me a break! I think we need to get the first season marked [down] to around $15. Consumers will go for it.”
Themed product is proving hit and miss with retailers.
Newbury Comics has been impressed that a volume of X-Files: Mythology usually manages to sell a third of what a full season of X-Files might. Yet other stores noted that typically themed sets sell just one-tenth of a full season counterpart.
“Themed collections like The X-Files and The Simpsons have a limited appeal,” Virgin Entertainment Group buyer Chris Anstey said. “Occasionally, we’ll see success with themed collections, when the full series aren’t yet available, such as the modern Outer Limits shows.”
Retailers did applaud clipped themed sets that were significantly cheaper than full seasons.
“Family Guy: The Freakin’ Sweet Collection [from Fox] is a good entry-level product,” Newbury buyer Ian Leshin said. “People can pay about $15 for a few quality episodes, rather than $35 for a whole season.”
On Sept. 27, Warner will release best-of sets of Maverick and F-Troop, each holding a handful of episodes at a $9.97 apiece list price. Full seasons have not yet streeted.
“Complete sets are the preferential way to watch TV, but this is a way for Warner to test the waters, to see if it’s even warranted to start bringing them out in a big way,” National Entertainment Buyers Group president Todd Zaganiacz said.
Release timing can make or break the duration of a TV series.
For highly successful series, including The Simpsons and Seinfeld, studios seem to agree to take their time on releases to prolong their fortunes. These two shows have collected $229.5 million and $179 million, in respective revenue.
The Simpsons will start its 17th broadcast season in mid-September but is on its sixth season on DVD. Four of the available nine broadcast Seinfeld seasons have been released on DVD.
But retailers believe that certain shows have been depleted too fast.
Anchor Bay released all three seasons of The Greatest American Hero between February and July of this year. Paramount has been criticized for burning through certain Star Trek shows unnecessarily.
“Stretching out shows gives customers enough time to ingest the shows they bought before they want more, and it will build demand,” Virgin’s Anstey said. “Definitely, Star Trek: The Next Generation was released too close together—everything in the span of one year. Also, [Image Entertainment’s] The Dick Van Dyke Show came out in two-month intervals, which is too close for sets [featuring] 30 episodes.”
Hastings Entertainment reports sales for the second set of Greatest American Hero were too far below its strong first-season sales.
“It tracked half as well as the first,” Hastings marketing director Mason Goodfellow said. “It was basically a month between the two. That doesn’t give the customer enough time to finish the first set.”
E-mail Susanne Ault