'Sons of Anarchy,' DVDs and the tight release window
Why are TV-on-DVD sets released so close to the new season?
Ron Perlman and Katey Sagal in an episode on the "Sons of Anarchy" season two DVD.
The other day on the podcast, special guest co-host Mo Ryan and I got to talking about the new season of "Sons of Anarchy," and about whether viewers needed to see both of the first two seasons to appreciate the third, or if they could perhaps get by with just the second. (I'm more of a completist, whereas Mo felt newbies would be okay with starting at season two to save time.) Then Mo asked a question I've heard frequently:
Why are TV-on-DVD box sets usually issued so close to premiere of that show's next season?
The "Sons" season two set, for instance, is a swell package, with all 13 episodes, deleted scenes, two featurettes (including Kurt Sutter and the cast answering viewer questions) and commentaries on some key episodes like "Balm." If you like the show - or if you're intrigued enough by all the rave reviews from people like me - it's well worth having on your shelf. But it came out only a week before season three was set to debut, not leaving much of a chance for Mo's hypothetical new viewer to catch up before the new episodes began.
As it turns out, I got it backwards, according to FX president John Landgraf.
"The studio wants to piggy back on the show’s marketing for the subsequent season," Landgraf explained to us after the podcast. "They need to place and sell a bunch of DVD’s quickly and that seems to work for them if they go right around premiere. We’ve tried putting out seasons earlier so that people have more time to catch up in the off season ("Damages" & "The Riches") and it didn’t seem to work for either the show or the DVD sales."
So now you know. And now I need to go listen to Sutter, Katey Sagal and company talk about "Balm."
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All through his childhood, Alan Sepinwall's relatives told his parents, "All that boy does is watch television! How's he going to make a living doing that?" His career as a TV critic has been 15 years and counting of his attempt to answer their concerns. "What's Alan Watching" is a blog whose title is self-explanatory: Alan watches TV shows, then writes about what he watched. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
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September 9, 2010 at 12:53PM EST Reply to CommentWhy couldn't they piggy back on the show's marketing for the season finale? The DVD for season 7 of 24 came out the day after the finale, although I don't know if that worked or not.
tribalism84 I believe that particular season of 24 had been delayed a year due to the Writer's Strike. That is to say that all the episodes had been digitally transferred and the discs had long been pressed long before the finale aired. With other series, there's simply not enough time to digitally transfer all the episodes and press the discs before the finale rolls around. If they did it as quickly as possibly, it would still probably be at least a month after the finale before the DVDs hit store shelves.
September 9, 2010 at 11:22PM ESTTruck If I recall correctly, the final season of Reno 911 came out the same day of (or maybe the day before?) the series finale.
September 10, 2010 at 12:23AM ESTLoretta
September 9, 2010 at 1:02PM EST Reply to CommentAlan, as a new viewer, who was in fact encouraged to start watching SOA due to your reviews, I found the week-long window kind of painful. I'd watched season 1 a couple months back, and, as I'm also a "completist," I had to be very careful to ensure that I saw all of season 2 before season 3 started (basically, since i watched via Netflix, I had to make sure I had some discs ready to send out the day before SOA released, so that I'd get my first 2 SOA discs the day it came out, and then my turnaround time on watching had to be very speedy, especially with the mail holiday this past weekend).
I suppose I understand the marketing ploy, but it's really kind of irritating for someone trying to catch up, especially if you don't want to purchase sight-unseen.
Lisa Loretta, we did the same thing with Netflix. It was tight but we did it.
September 9, 2010 at 1:39PM ESTI would like to know why Comcast doesn't have it up On Demand as well.
Sareeta I got into SoA late in the game (finished season 1 about a month ago). I just finished disc 1 of Season 2 today with Netflix. I was hoping to be able to catch up on season 2 before the season 3 episodes expire with Comcast On Demand...but nothing has been posted yet. I, too, am wondering when Comcast plans on posting season 3 because I don't want to wait for the DVD release to watch it.
September 10, 2010 at 3:01PM EST
September 9, 2010 at 1:10PM EST Reply to CommentAlan, do any of the deleted scenes address the fate of a certain character that kept getting cut from the later episodes last year?
sepinwall Haven't had a chance to watch all the deleted scenes, so I don't know about Darby, no.
September 9, 2010 at 1:30PM ESTDrewGW I've watched every ep and for the life of me I can't figure out who you are referring to.
September 9, 2010 at 1:32PM ESTDrewGW Ah, forgot about Darby.
September 9, 2010 at 1:33PM EST
September 9, 2010 at 2:11PM ESTCandice Brian, yes, it is addressed in a deleted scene. However, Kurt said he'd address Darby in Season 3. So, whether he sticks to what was said in the deleted scene or not remains to be seen.
September 9, 2010 at 2:24PM ESTTim yes there are 2 deleted scenes about what happened to darby and chucky in the fire, u pretty much find out exactly what happened, darbys alive......to tell you the truth, with all the important things going on in season 3 i could care less about darby hes so insignificant so i think addressing it in a deleted scene is fine and if u really wanna find out then u gotta buy the dvd and watch it
September 10, 2010 at 8:38AM ESTEric
September 9, 2010 at 1:36PM EST Reply to CommentI get what they're trying to do from a marketing point of view and I have no doubt that it works better financially than an earlier release. The problem is that it makes it very difficult for those of us trying to catch up on the show to watch everything before the new season premieres. Especially these days with the long delays on Netflix. I've had season 2 on my queue for weeks and I still haven't received it so I'm already behind on season 3.
Jen
September 9, 2010 at 1:47PM EST Reply to CommentThis is because people who are jsut getting into a show aren't as likely to BUY the dics. They want to WATCH them on netflix or rent them - they are new to the show and aren't likely to invest $50 in a box set, sign unseen... the most likely buyers are people who've seen the show already and know it's worth their money.
What I feel like we're really missing is the way networks and cable stations re-run a previous season to help you catch up for the new one. The glut of reality programming is part of that decline (less reruns in favor of new eps of cheap reality shows) and the DVD sales are the other (don't rerun on TV so that show lovers can only get their fix on DVD). Some basic cable channels and HBO still do this, but not as much as they used to, and not for all shows.
Tina To their credit, FX did run the second season of SoA over the summer. My DVR picked them up and I could rewatch them before the premiere of season 3. I do wish every network did that; it would seem like that's when you pick up new viewers.
September 9, 2010 at 1:54PM ESTSo did they lose a DVD sale because of that? Perhaps, but I wouldn't have tried to watch the entire season with that short a window anyway. I'm actually more likely to buy TV DVDs to watch during the long time between seasons, but perhaps that's just me.
ADKid25
September 9, 2010 at 1:58PM EST Reply to CommentAs a hypothetical new viewer (well, not hypothetical, but you know what I mean), the release window frustrates me. For example, with Breaking Bad, I'd see season 1 on DVD long after season 2 began, long enough that AMC wasn't repeating episodes. So, I got to see season 2 on DVD, but I hadn't had the idea to TiVo season 3 episodes to watch once I finished the previous season--which was released days before the new premiere.
So, I'm waiting on Breaking Bad to hopefully repeat on AMC--anyone who knows when that might be is a friend of mine if they let me know--or for the DVD. With Sons of Anarchy (Alan, you replied to my tweet over the weekend about how lost I'd be, and I lean toward completism myself), I'm TiVoing the new episodes in hopes that I can get to Season 3 by the end of the year, watching Seasons 1 and 2 through Netflix.
I understand money's the important factor here, but I can't imagine a lot of new viewers diving into a show that is, from everything I've read, pretty serialized. Now, at least, I have learned my lesson: with any cable show (not HBO or Showtime, as I don't have them), watch from the beginning or pay the price.
terry312
September 9, 2010 at 3:24PM EST Reply to CommentYou know what they should do? Come out with a bare-bones version right after the end of the season, and then come out with a completist/extra-features version right before the start of the next season.
Like a lot of commenters, I don't know the economics of how that would work, but it roughly parallels a trick I've seen with movie DVDs of coming out with the bare-bones version early (to get the obsessives) and a special-edition version later (to get the obsessives again). There has to be some way to make this work for TV.
September 9, 2010 at 5:19PM ESTDoug
September 9, 2010 at 4:14PM EST Reply to CommentAfter blazing through season 1 of Sons of Anarchy on Netflix a few months back, I remember being disappointed when I realized that the window between season 2 DVD and season 3 was so short. At first I had a similar thought as many of the other commenters: wouldn't it make more sense for FX to release the DVD 2 months ahead of time to attract more season 3 viewers?
Then I realized, no it would be much smarter their way. If viewers are worried they don't have time to catch up on Netflix (like I was) they might just buy the DVDs so they can power through 13 episodes in a week (like I did). So I guess I fell for it.
This wouldn't work for every show, but combine a great 2nd half of s1 with a lot of critical praise for s2, it was a smart move. I certainly don't regret dropping $35 on the set- it's every bit as good as Alan, Mo Ryan and the rest promised. As a 24 year old not very emotional person, only 2 shows have ever "made my living room dusty" as Alan would say: The Wire (both Namond and Bubbles in the penultimate episode) and the Friday Night Lights pilot.
But then last week I saw "Balm" and during the big Gemma/Jax/Clay scene there was more then dust in the air - you might call it sobbing.
Anyway my point is that when a full season of TV is this consistently brillant and entertaining, for me it's worth the money. WATCH THIS SHOW!
Doug Correction: I paid $45 for the set (on sale). Damn iPhone touch screen.
September 9, 2010 at 4:23PM ESTJ
September 9, 2010 at 4:45PM EST Reply to CommentI know it was a very particular case, but one of the great things Lost did heading into its final season was throw the whole of the rest of the show up on Hulu and Netflix's streaming service. I don't know how many people took advantage of that -- I used it to indoctrinate someone -- but at least it was there.
Looks like there's a 30-day delay between broadcast and Hulu for SOA. No consolation if you're trying to catch up to the broadcast schedule -- I too was thinking about it, but maybe this will be one of those things I'm just always behind on.
Sareeta Lost was handled so much better than most shows. I haven't checked recently, but last I checked they had seasons 1-5 available on ABC's website AND posted season 6 online as each episode aired. I don't understand why all the networks can't do the same.... I understand pay cable not doing it because it defeats the purpose of having customers...but the big networks should. The world is changing and there isn't enough time in the day to sit down and watch most shows at their scheduled time. Also posting past seasons makes it more likely that new viewers will catch up and then tune into the new season.
September 10, 2010 at 3:07PM EST
September 9, 2010 at 6:15PM EST Reply to CommentAt least SOA gave people the weekend to catch up. Community's DVD comes out 2 days before the 2nd season starts.
JanieJones
September 9, 2010 at 8:56PM EST Reply to CommentI'm a completist (when necessary or the want wins). I pre-ordered S2 even though it was replayed on FX on late Sat. nights.
However, it does frustrate me when I'm catching up on show (not seen) and the season dvd's aren't available. Yes, there are other options, I just prefer the dvd above other choices.
Sometimes, I choose to collect a show when the run ends. I don't know why but sometimes my instincts tell me wait until the run is over.
Tim
September 10, 2010 at 8:35AM EST Reply to Commentman i love kurt sutter but he is really difficult to listen to speak, every other word its "umm umm ummm", i couldnt listen to the commentary because of that
Sareeta LOL yes! I love hearing the actors, especially Ron Pearlman (sshhhhh, I'm trying to pay attention---I only watched the scenes I was in during the original run!), but Kurt Sutter is a terrible speaker.
September 10, 2010 at 3:03PM ESTTim
September 10, 2010 at 8:45AM EST Reply to CommentI think its very important to watch season 1 before getting into this show. There is very important info on jaxx father john teller in season 1, lots of stuff implicated as far as gemma and clays role in his death, and this is really not addressed in season 2 at all and i think as the series goes along its going to be the driving theme of the show as we saw in the opening montage of season 3 the shot of john tellers face , that was haunting, i loved it. So yes u must watch all episodes of this show, not to mention season 1 kicks ass and is brilliant TV
jan
September 11, 2010 at 9:23AM EST Reply to CommentFYI: Amazon now has Season 3 of SOA available for pre-order--both regular and blu-ray. There's no release date yet, but I'm surprised it's even available for ordering so early. Plus you get the price guarantee that if it goes lower, you get the cheaper price. And if you decide later that you don't want it, you can just delete the order. I ordered mine already, and, although I watched Season 2 from the beginning, I never did see Season 1, so I had to get the DVDs for that in order to catch up more completely. Of course, being somewhat OCD, I had to have the complete set, so I have S2 as well.
Pennywise
September 12, 2010 at 8:06PM EST Reply to CommentIt strikes me as a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation for the networks and the studios. As a non-premium cable subscriber, I was really put off by the release dates for the dvds for shows like Dexter and True Blood. Basically I decided I could never add the premium channels to my lineup b/c I had such a short window to watch before the new season. That's all changed w/ the addition and expansion of the On Demand features though- something I can only imagine severely impacts the revenue from dvd sales.
It's unfortunate that the regular networks have no incentive to promote the dvds for their series or that they don't establish a similar widespread On Demand feature for their shows, especially ones with good word of mouth/awards buzz/etc. If people could catch up that way, I'm sure they'd see expansion of their audiences.