WKRP Release on DVD? It may be possible. - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

sallyJo · 04-12-2004, 11:04 PM

Hi all,

There is a company that seems to be willing to do the work to license and produce hit TV shows. I have included an excerpt from the article that I attached below.

I think we should all call and email Shout! Factory, telling them that we would like to see WKRP released on DVD.

http://www.shoutfactory.com
info@shoutfactory.com

Excerpt:

“…“Classic hits are a different matter. And older shows are paying the price. Literally. When cult fave "Freaks and Geeks" came out on DVD this week -- all 18 episodes of NBC's quirky 1999 take on 1980 high school life -- it carried a list price of $70, or $10 higher than most season sets. But it includes all its original songs, about a half-dozen per episode, mostly period faves.

"Freaks" fans are lucky. The show's production studio, DreamWorks, wouldn't go through the hassle of clearing a hundred songs. But eclectic independent label Shout! Factory, launched two years ago by former Rhino executives, approached DreamWorks for DVD rights.”

"With the music and how it was used, it was inherent in the integrity of the product to make deals to license the music as it originally appeared," says Shout! chief operating officer Bob Emmer, who waded through the licensing morass.

Music clearance for Shout!'s June 8 first-season release of the "SCTV" sketch series took close to a year, he says. The nine-episode set will list at $100.
"You can't just go pull out the music and substitute, because it was so embedded in the fabric of the sketch."

POP-TUNE LICENSING RESTRICTS DVD SETS

By Diane Werts
Newsday
April 9, 2004

Wondering why you don't see "Miami Vice" or "WKRP in Cincinnati" DVD sets? "Look at the music clearance rights," says Peter Staddon, the Fox Home Entertainment senior vice president who oversees DVD development. Fox video holds DVD rights to the radio station comedy, but "when ('WKRP') was created (in 1978), they didn't think about the need to clear (song rights) for home video, because home video didn't exist, let alone DVD. It becomes very prohibitive in terms of putting that out."
How prohibitive? Maybe a million dollars prohibitive. Per season. So it isn't greedy stars or producers keeping many TV classics off DVD. It's the cost of popular songs on the soundtrack. When series like "Vice" and "KRP" began using hit music 25 years ago to create a cool atmosphere, they also created a hornet's nest of down-the-line issues -- now coming back to sting fans.
"The studios try to get the most recognizable songs they can for the initial airing," says Shawn Ryan, creator of "The Shield" for FX cable, "and they take no care financially to preserve the ability to have those songs be with the shows in the future."
Low-cost music
Though Ryan uses up to 15 music cues weekly in his gritty cop drama, both "Shield" season sets have included music as aired, because he is a DVD devotee.
"We took the approach from the beginning to use cutting-edge music, unknown music, six-months-ahead-of-the-curve music," which was inexpensive or easy to acquire "in perpetuity."
Classic hits are a different matter. And older shows are paying the price. Literally. When cult fave "Freaks and Geeks" came out on DVD this week -- all 18 episodes of NBC's quirky 1999 take on 1980 high school life -- it carried a list price of $70, or $10 higher than most season sets. But it includes all its original songs, about a half-dozen per episode, mostly period faves.
"Freaks" fans are lucky. The show's production studio, DreamWorks, wouldn't go through the hassle of clearing a hundred songs. But eclectic independent label Shout! Factory, launched two years ago by former Rhino executives, approached DreamWorks for DVD rights.
"With the music and how it was used, it was inherent in the integrity of the product to make deals to license the music as it originally appeared," says Shout! chief operating officer Bob Emmer, who waded through the licensing morass.
Multiple approvals
To clear rights for just one episode, he says, "you may be dealing with 10 different approvals and 10 different negotiations for just the master side" of the original recordings.
"Then, you switch over to the publishing side" for the songs' composers. It's not only time-consuming, but "on something very music-intensive, it could run close to, if not over, a million dollars."
Music clearance for Shout!'s June 8 first-season release of the "SCTV" sketch series took close to a year, he says. The nine-episode set will list at $100.
"You can't just go pull out the music and substitute, because it was so embedded in the fabric of the sketch."
Substituting is, to fans' dismay, done in other series.
Originally aired songs were replaced by alternative choices in DVDs of "Dawson's Creek," "Felicity" and "Roswell," whose executive producer not only oversaw the changes but extolled them on a DVD insert. "Profiler's" first-season set omitted an episode due to clearance issues with The Police song "Every Breath You Take."
So maybe it isn't true we'll never see some song-filled shows on DVD. "I love to hear 'never see it,' because that's where we step in," says Emmer. " 'WKRP' or 'That '70s Show' would be a monumental task," he admits. "But that's what we excel in.”

dlemond · 04-13-2004, 09:51 PM

Write to these people!

I dropped them a quick email today and they got back to me already!

Here is what I wrote:
________

I've read articles about your work with Freaks and Geeks and
how you are up to the challenge of clearing music rights.

If you can get WKRP on DVD you will have endless thanks
and praise and my money in a heartbeat.

Please tell me you are going to give it a shot.

Thanks,

Michael
*****

And here is what they wrote back:

Michael, thanks for the suggestion, you are not the first to suggest this title by the way!

I have forwarded your request on to our creative staff...stay tuned!

*****
Well, well.

There IS hope- so write to them people and tell them how you'd love to see WKRP on DVD and how you don't care how much it costs.

Tell everyone to email them asap!

info@shoutfactory.com

APPLEI · 04-13-2004, 10:01 PM

sallyjo thanks for the info
i just e-mailed www.shoutfactory.com requesting they release all 90 episodes of WKRP IN CINCINNATI on dvd uncut with original music!
i told them i would be willing to pay twice as much
i have more hope than ever!
thanks again
applei

Moonlight Lady · 04-19-2004, 12:40 PM

I sent them an email too. Maybe if enough people send emails, they'll see how much the show is in demand and they'll do it.

Skywalker · 04-19-2004, 05:15 PM

I'll believe that when turkeys fly.

karma · 04-19-2004, 08:21 PM

I still have hope... can you imagine how awesome it would be if the series got put on DVD just because of the amount of people requesting it?

sallyJo · 04-19-2004, 11:24 PM

Keep up the emails! I have also posted this message to another WKRP message board, and they are sending emails too. Maybe with everybody emailing them, Shout! Factory will realize that this could be a very lucrative proposition for them.

http://www.shoutfactory.com/
info@shoutfactory.com

APPLEI · 04-20-2004, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sallyJo
Keep up the emails! I have also posted this message to another WKRP message board, and they are sending emails too. Maybe with everybody emailing them, Shout! Factory will realize that this could be a very lucrative proposition for them.

http://www.shoutfactory.com/
info@shoutfactory.com

i agree!
shout! will realize that WKRP IN CINCINNATI would sell alot better
than FREEKS AND GEEKS!
by the way i rented FREAKS AND GEEKS and i must say shoutfactory did an excellent job on those dvds!

Shout!Factory · 04-20-2004, 02:39 PM

WKRP fans,

We at Shout! Factory have been getting a number of emails from you asking for us to put this out on DVD. While we appreciate the sincere requests, the number of emails we are receiving are making it prohibitive for us to reply to each of them. So with that in mind, we wanted to post a brief message saying, thanks for the suggstions, for your grassroots effort to get this out and you are welcome to continue to email us with this and other suggestions for shows. Please note, this is in no way a confirmation that we are working on this, only a note saying "We hear ya!", we're listening, and we'll see what we can do.

From the folks at Shout!

APPLEI · 08-27-2004, 03:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shout!Factory
WKRP fans,

We at Shout! Factory have been getting a number of emails from you asking for us to put this out on DVD. While we appreciate the sincere requests, the number of emails we are receiving are making it prohibitive for us to reply to each of them. So with that in mind, we wanted to post a brief message saying, thanks for the suggstions, for your grassroots effort to get this out and you are welcome to continue to email us with this and other suggestions for shows. Please note, this is in no way a confirmation that we are working on this, only a note saying "We hear ya!", we're listening, and we'll see what we can do.

From the folks at Shout!

doe's anybody know if Shout!factory is working on releasing all 90 episodes of "wkrp in cincinnati " on dvd with original music?
in season by season formats with commentarys from actors and producers(especially hugh wilson) on all 90 episodes and bloopers maybe some from every episode!
and promos for each and every episode!
and comprehensive menu's

thats my question for now!
thank you

dragongohan27 · 09-16-2004, 11:07 PM

Hello everyone,

I have recently purchased all 90 episodes of WKRP on 18 DVD's from a person in the UK and I have to say I love the set!!!
It has all the original music and is uncut plus the picture/audio quality is top notch!!
This was made by someone (not a studio).
If anyone is interested in a set please make me a fare offer.
I have only 4 sets available.
So please email me at dragongohan27@hotmail.com if you are interested in obtaining a set..

rockandrollmark · 11-18-2004, 12:18 PM

I have posted about this on my website The Rock and Roll Report in the past and encouraged people to sign the online petition for WKRP to be released on DVD. I will post this information on the site as well so hopefully even more people will e-mail Shout Factory requesting the mighty WKRP!

04-12-2004, 11:04 PM	#1
sallyJo Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jan 31, 2004 Posts: 13	WKRP Release on DVD? It may be possible. Hi all, There is a company that seems to be willing to do the work to license and produce hit TV shows. I have included an excerpt from the article that I attached below. I think we should all call and email Shout! Factory, telling them that we would like to see WKRP released on DVD. http://www.shoutfactory.com info@shoutfactory.com Excerpt: “…“Classic hits are a different matter. And older shows are paying the price. Literally. When cult fave "Freaks and Geeks" came out on DVD this week -- all 18 episodes of NBC's quirky 1999 take on 1980 high school life -- it carried a list price of $70, or $10 higher than most season sets. But it includes all its original songs, about a half-dozen per episode, mostly period faves. "Freaks" fans are lucky. The show's production studio, DreamWorks, wouldn't go through the hassle of clearing a hundred songs. But eclectic independent label Shout! Factory, launched two years ago by former Rhino executives, approached DreamWorks for DVD rights.” "With the music and how it was used, it was inherent in the integrity of the product to make deals to license the music as it originally appeared," says Shout! chief operating officer Bob Emmer, who waded through the licensing morass. Music clearance for Shout!'s June 8 first-season release of the "SCTV" sketch series took close to a year, he says. The nine-episode set will list at $100. "You can't just go pull out the music and substitute, because it was so embedded in the fabric of the sketch." POP-TUNE LICENSING RESTRICTS DVD SETS By Diane Werts Newsday April 9, 2004 Wondering why you don't see "Miami Vice" or "WKRP in Cincinnati" DVD sets? "Look at the music clearance rights," says Peter Staddon, the Fox Home Entertainment senior vice president who oversees DVD development. Fox video holds DVD rights to the radio station comedy, but "when ('WKRP') was created (in 1978), they didn't think about the need to clear (song rights) for home video, because home video didn't exist, let alone DVD. It becomes very prohibitive in terms of putting that out." How prohibitive? Maybe a million dollars prohibitive. Per season. So it isn't greedy stars or producers keeping many TV classics off DVD. It's the cost of popular songs on the soundtrack. When series like "Vice" and "KRP" began using hit music 25 years ago to create a cool atmosphere, they also created a hornet's nest of down-the-line issues -- now coming back to sting fans. "The studios try to get the most recognizable songs they can for the initial airing," says Shawn Ryan, creator of "The Shield" for FX cable, "and they take no care financially to preserve the ability to have those songs be with the shows in the future." Low-cost music Though Ryan uses up to 15 music cues weekly in his gritty cop drama, both "Shield" season sets have included music as aired, because he is a DVD devotee. "We took the approach from the beginning to use cutting-edge music, unknown music, six-months-ahead-of-the-curve music," which was inexpensive or easy to acquire "in perpetuity." Classic hits are a different matter. And older shows are paying the price. Literally. When cult fave "Freaks and Geeks" came out on DVD this week -- all 18 episodes of NBC's quirky 1999 take on 1980 high school life -- it carried a list price of $70, or $10 higher than most season sets. But it includes all its original songs, about a half-dozen per episode, mostly period faves. "Freaks" fans are lucky. The show's production studio, DreamWorks, wouldn't go through the hassle of clearing a hundred songs. But eclectic independent label Shout! Factory, launched two years ago by former Rhino executives, approached DreamWorks for DVD rights. "With the music and how it was used, it was inherent in the integrity of the product to make deals to license the music as it originally appeared," says Shout! chief operating officer Bob Emmer, who waded through the licensing morass. Multiple approvals To clear rights for just one episode, he says, "you may be dealing with 10 different approvals and 10 different negotiations for just the master side" of the original recordings. "Then, you switch over to the publishing side" for the songs' composers. It's not only time-consuming, but "on something very music-intensive, it could run close to, if not over, a million dollars." Music clearance for Shout!'s June 8 first-season release of the "SCTV" sketch series took close to a year, he says. The nine-episode set will list at $100. "You can't just go pull out the music and substitute, because it was so embedded in the fabric of the sketch." Substituting is, to fans' dismay, done in other series. Originally aired songs were replaced by alternative choices in DVDs of "Dawson's Creek," "Felicity" and "Roswell," whose executive producer not only oversaw the changes but extolled them on a DVD insert. "Profiler's" first-season set omitted an episode due to clearance issues with The Police song "Every Breath You Take." So maybe it isn't true we'll never see some song-filled shows on DVD. "I love to hear 'never see it,' because that's where we step in," says Emmer. " 'WKRP' or 'That '70s Show' would be a monumental task," he admits. "But that's what we excel in.”

04-13-2004, 10:01 PM	#3
APPLEI Member Forum Regular Join Date: Aug 16, 2000 Location: JACKSON MI. 49203 Posts: 810	Re: WKRP Release on DVD? It may be possible. sallyjo thanks for the info i just e-mailed www.shoutfactory.com requesting they release all 90 episodes of WKRP IN CINCINNATI on dvd uncut with original music! i told them i would be willing to pay twice as much i have more hope than ever! thanks again applei

04-19-2004, 12:40 PM	#4
Moonlight Lady Member Forum Star Join Date: Aug 18, 2002 Posts: 16,052	I sent them an email too. Maybe if enough people send emails, they'll see how much the show is in demand and they'll do it.
	__________________ [

04-20-2004, 02:39 PM	#9
Shout!Factory Member First Time Poster Join Date: Apr 19, 2004 Posts: 1	Shout! Factory and WKRP WKRP fans, We at Shout! Factory have been getting a number of emails from you asking for us to put this out on DVD. While we appreciate the sincere requests, the number of emails we are receiving are making it prohibitive for us to reply to each of them. So with that in mind, we wanted to post a brief message saying, thanks for the suggstions, for your grassroots effort to get this out and you are welcome to continue to email us with this and other suggestions for shows. Please note, this is in no way a confirmation that we are working on this, only a note saying "We hear ya!", we're listening, and we'll see what we can do. From the folks at Shout!

09-16-2004, 11:07 PM	#11
dragongohan27 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Apr 23, 2004 Posts: 18	WKRP Complete on DVD's Hello everyone, I have recently purchased all 90 episodes of WKRP on 18 DVD's from a person in the UK and I have to say I love the set!!! It has all the original music and is uncut plus the picture/audio quality is top notch!! This was made by someone (not a studio). If anyone is interested in a set please make me a fare offer. I have only 4 sets available. So please email me at dragongohan27@hotmail.com if you are interested in obtaining a set..

04-13-2004, 09:51 PM	#2
dlemond Hey, I know you. Moderator Forum Veteran Join Date: Dec 03, 2001 Location: New Jersey Posts: 6,751	Write to these people! I dropped them a quick email today and they got back to me already! Here is what I wrote: ________ I've read articles about your work with Freaks and Geeks and how you are up to the challenge of clearing music rights. If you can get WKRP on DVD you will have endless thanks and praise and my money in a heartbeat. Please tell me you are going to give it a shot. Thanks, Michael *** And here is what they wrote back: Michael, thanks for the suggestion, you are not the first to suggest this title by the way! I have forwarded your request on to our creative staff...stay tuned! *** Well, well. There IS hope- so write to them people and tell them how you'd love to see WKRP on DVD and how you don't care how much it costs. Tell everyone to email them asap! info@shoutfactory.com

04-19-2004, 05:15 PM	#5
Skywalker Member Forum Fanatic Join Date: Apr 04, 2003 Posts: 14,204	I'll believe that when turkeys fly.

04-19-2004, 08:21 PM	#6
karma Member Occasional Poster Join Date: May 04, 2002 Location: edmonton Posts: 41	I still have hope... can you imagine how awesome it would be if the series got put on DVD just because of the amount of people requesting it?

04-19-2004, 11:24 PM	#7
sallyJo Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jan 31, 2004 Posts: 13	Keep up the emails! I have also posted this message to another WKRP message board, and they are sending emails too. Maybe with everybody emailing them, Shout! Factory will realize that this could be a very lucrative proposition for them. http://www.shoutfactory.com/ info@shoutfactory.com

11-18-2004, 12:18 PM	#12
rockandrollmark Member Forum Hawk Join Date: Nov 18, 2004 Location: Montreal Posts: 4	WKRP on DVD I have posted about this on my website The Rock and Roll Report in the past and encouraged people to sign the online petition for WKRP to be released on DVD. I will post this information on the site as well so hopefully even more people will e-mail Shout Factory requesting the mighty WKRP!
	__________________ Mark www.rockandrollreport.com