posted
I think there are a few fans of Northern Exposure here, so I figured I'd post this. It's finally coming out on DVD. I'm happy, because along with Red Dwarf, Northern Exposure is easily one of my favorite TV shows.
But damn! It's expensive. $41.99 American, $55.99 Canadian. That's not bad for a DVD package of a TV show, especially when the episodes are each about 42 minutes long. Season one of Northern Exposure, however, had only eight episodes. Sure, there are also the special features, but those are included on all special DVDs, and the ones on this set seem pretty slim.
So the question is, why are some DVDs so expensive? Is it the production company? This one is being released by Universal Studios. I don't have many of their releases. Is this a pattern with them?
Northern Exposure is known for incoporating a lot of popular, and some rare, music into the series. Could it have something to do with licensing costs? Don't a lot of cheaper DVD sets also use a lot of music?
Is it because the studios know that people are willing to pay? I'm sure that's the case with the Star Trek releases($150 Canadian at Amazon), but was Northern Exposure that popular?
Are these prices justifiable in any way?
I'm glad that one of my favorite shows is coming out on DVD, but I'm pissed off at the ridiculous price. I am, after all, just a poor student.
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Music clearance can have A LOT to do with it. And also, think how many individuals are involved with each episode that will get residual checks.
Also, think how much content you're getting in a regular, $19.99 single film release over a television show with multiple hours worth of programming content, apart from the special features.
I don't think $41.99 is too high.
The X-Files sets, however, are way overpriced - at $150 (RRSP)a pop. But then, that's in hindsight. These were the first season sets to be released, and they had no other sets to cpmpare with - so they set a price, which then seemed reasonable. And now, with so many sets being sold for $35-$50, the X-sets are kind of alone - as are the Trek sets.
But word is, all the X-Sets will be given a $50 price reduction in the next month or so...so now you can get X-Files seasons for $100, or less through services like Amazon.com - still too pricey for me right now.
*enjoys his $35 ER and WEST WING sets, as well as his $80 SOPRANOS and SIX FEET UNDER sets*
Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000
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Among its audience, NorthernExposure is absolutely cult status, especially the first three seasons. And the demographics of its fans showed a considerably higher median income than average for television shows. Which may explain why they are charging so much for the DVDs.
And as I explained elsewhere, if your time is worth minimum wage (not including benefits), you would be paying the equivalent of $2dollars/hour by watching commercials. Multiply your hourly wage&benefits by 0.385 for the minimum that you are paying per hour of commercial television viewing.
I wish they would issue DVDs immediately after televising every five episodes for ~$20, which is about the cost of movie tickets for the same amount of viewing. Then I would never watch commercial television.
posted
I actually almost always miss my shows and end up having to BitTorrent to watch them that night or later in the week. Plus I get them commercial free that way!
But for series available on DVD that I want to watch, I'll buy the sets. For shows I've never seen that I've heard good things about, I may download the Pilot and first regular episode first to watch in order to inform my purchase.
*LOVES TV-on-DVD, and awaits the upcoming releases of First Seasons of QUANTUM LEAP, GILMORE GIRLS, NIP/TUCK, and FREAKS & GEEKS*
posted
Think about it. They have a product which is almost completely free to reproduce once you have the original. Now, the first copy still costs a lot, so there will need to be some way of determining fair compensation. However, this dialogue is likely only beginning. Knowing this, would you do A or B?
A. Set the prices at levels you feel are fair, even if they could be higher. You make money, but people will steal whether your DVD is $5 or $50. The price can only go down once people figure out how easy it is to make copies. You do not make as much money as you could with higher prices, and the expected profits of your industry are lower. This will no doubt affect how the new paradigm of information sale is conducted.
B. Set the prices as high as possible and attempt to suck every last bit of cash from the pockets of anyone silly enough to actually pay for your product. Sure, the way of compensating the producers will still change, but you have more money than you did in A, so you can either hire more lawyers to shape the new paradigm more in your favor or just keep the extra cash and be no worse off than the end situation in A, and possibly better.
Posts: 1364 | Registered: Feb 2003
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I'm wondering: what television shows have people loved enough to buy season sets of?
My Collection: --------------- M*A*S*H (Season One) - Purchased sight unseen, based on recommendation.
THE SIMPSONS (Seasons 1 & 2) - 'nuff said.
THE CRITIC (Complete Series) - This was one title I'd been waiting for since TV on DVD began.
THE SOPRANOS (Season 1) - First TV on DVD I bought. I'll eventually purchase the other seasons.
SIX FEET UNDER (Season 1) - Best. Show. On. Television.
THE WEST WING (Season 1) - I watched the first couple episodes of the first season, and was hooked.
ER (Season 1) - I watched the first couple episodes of the CURRENT season, and wanted to see the show's roots.
I had BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER season 1, and sold it after I watched it. I enjoyed it, and I'm glad I watched it, but didn't see myself revisiting that season again. Plus I needed some cash. I may buy/watch the aditional seasons still, though.
and the best show you've probably never seen or heard of Joss Whedon's (Creator of Angel and Buffy) FireFly
There are other TV series I wasnt to buy, but alas and anon, cash is never plentiful enough... Series I would buy if I had the money available?
West Wing Keen Eddie Various Anime (The Big O, Trigun, Raxephon, NGE) Transformers the series (They're More than Meets the Eye!) Monty Pythons Flying Circus
and many more,,,
Posts: 100 | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
I remember when I first saw Northern Exposure. I guess I felt like it was the first TV show that really resonated with me. I'm pretty sure this is one set I would be willing to shell out whatever Amazon wants for the set.
Posts: 230 | Registered: Sep 2003
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The X-Files sets, however, are way overpriced - at $150 (RRSP)a pop
quote: But word is, all the X-Sets will be given a $50 price reduction in the next month or so...so now you can get X-Files seasons for $100, or less through services like Amazon.com - still too pricey for me right now.
When you say it's too pricey for you, do you agree that it's too expensive in general?
If you do, consider the fact that the first season of Northern Exposure has only eight episodes, whereas each season of X-Files has about twenty, or more. If you do the math, based on price per episode, a 22-episode season of Northern Exposure would cost about $105. The same as X-Files after the $50 reduction.
Is this appealing to your average joe consumer? Hardly. Who else is purchasing these dvds(specifically Star Trek and X-Files), other than hardcore fans and dvd-enthusiasts? Isn't the point to sell to those who haven't really watched the show, and who might be interested in checking it out, commercial free?
quote: Knowing this, would you do A or B?
I'm assuming that you think B is the preferable option from the standpoint of the production companies. I would disagree.
As Taalcon pointed out, the companies behind X-files and Star Trek set what they thought might be a reasonable standard price for a popular series. Obviously they were wrong. This is evidenced by the fact that most other new dvd series are a fraction of the price.
I don't have the numbers to support my argument, but I would bet that the shows which are ripped and downloaded for free(stolen) most often, are the most expensive ones.
quote: Sure, the way of compensating the producers will still change, but you have more money than you did in A
For how long, if at all? If the prices of dvds stay so consistently high, not many people will be able to afford them. How many people do you know who have every season of Star Trek? Not many folks have a grand to lay down for each new series. Pretty soon even the enthusiasts are going to get sick of shelling out $80-$100 for a dvd-collection.
If you take a look at amazon sales ranks, you'll see that the lower priced series have a far higher sales rank. Buffy, Babylon 5, The Sopranos: all far cheaper than Star Trek and X-Files, all ranked in the top 500, most ranked in the top 100. Even Stargate, which I didn't know was so popular, is ranked in the top 100.
Where do Star Trek and X-Files rank? I couldn't find more than one that was in the top 1000.
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
But the cost of the DVDs will bottom out anyway, no matter what you set the price at. Eventually, nearly everyone who wants a particular series will have it. I suppose more people being born will supply a new market, but nothing like what we have now. Prices will drop sooner or later, but the more the media companies tip the scale to later, then the more people who buy at the inflated price. When the product is a physical manifestation of information, is a lot easier to lower prices than to raise them, so that is incentive to keep them as high as possible for as long as possible. Even when it stops selling at the current price, there is no reason to drop the price of the Star Trek series by more than about $5 at a time until a price is found that enough people are willing to pay for at the lower rate to make it profitable.
Posts: 1364 | Registered: Feb 2003
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posted
You have a point, in that lowering the price in small increments will certainly take in sales at higher prices, but would the number of those sales come even close to those of the lesser-priced dvds? I'm not sure that the profit would be any greater in the long run.
For one thing, there's the issue of your company's image in the eyes of the consumer. If you're putting out a product, and charging an exorbitant amount of money, I might just be mad enough to say 'screw you,' and download your show for free. Or maybe rent it and burn it. I get all the content for free, minus the pretty packaging. Sure, after a few years the price has come down and I can afford it, but what's the point, I already own a cheaper version. I appreciated the fact that you put effort into make something which I enjoyed, but then you tried to screw me.
If you're charging a reasonable price, and I really like the show, then I'm going to pay for the dvds.
The market for tv-on-dvd is still fairly new. I'd like to see some hard numbers on dvd sales comparisons, but until then it's hard to form a solid opinion. Though economic theory would agree with your arguments, I think the evidence points to pretty shoddy sales of the most highly priced dvds. Why else would the price of X-Files be dropping by $50 instead of $5?
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Okay, $40 for a half season is more reasonable in comparison to movie ticket prices; which makes $30 for eight episodes of NorthernExposure a fairer deal.
Some of us prefer knowing that the people who provide us with what we want are well rewarded for their effort, Danzig. Think of money as applause, an encouragement to stay in the business, and a hope that they will serve us as well next time.
Speaking of which, how about cancelled cult-following series going directly to new episodes on DVD?
posted
So pay for it then. I certainly will if I ever want to have an entire television season in my media library, but not everyone will. What I would do is a moot point because I do not have enough hours in the day to watch that much television, so the shows never come into my possession by any means. All I am saying is that there is probably a good reason companies are charging that much. Certainly there is nothing wrong with charging any price for any reason.
Posts: 1364 | Registered: Feb 2003
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All I am saying is that there is probably a good reason companies are charging that much. Certainly there is nothing wrong with charging any price for any reason.
