 Trend
of TV Shows on DVD
by Jeff Hodges
What's the best way to watch an entire day of "Friends"?
Or the first season of "Magnum P.I."? How about hours
upon hours of "Knight Rider," "24" and "The
Sopranos"?
From swish soirees to simply rotting away on the sofa, time
suckage is at a maximum these days, thanks to the plethora of
TV-to-DVD products, and they're spawning new ways to fill your
weekends.
TV programs, no doubt, have become the fastest growing segment
of the DVD business, according to industry experts. Three years
ago, fewer than a hundred shows were available on disc. Now,
there are more than 800 on the market, with dozens more coming
out each week.
According to Video Store Magazine research, U.S. sales of TV
shows on DVD nearly tripled from $300 million in 2001 to $870
million in 2002. TV shows make up an estimated 10 per cent of
the DVD market, which last year tallied more than $1 billion
in sales.
While TV shows on DVD are nothing new - it's arguably the biggest-growth
genre in the digital format - today's baby-boomer bounty demonstrates
that classic series are coming out with increasing frequency.
Call it a trend within a trend, one fueled by more older viewers
tuning in to DVD as it continues to gain mass appeal and by
studios digging deeper into their catalogs as they exhaust newer
fare. Undeniably, there is a great sense of rediscovery as fans
chase the titles they remember most fondly from their younger
years - not just classic movies, but classic TV shows like:
"I Love Lucy" and "Star Trek" besides "Have
Gun, Will Travel". This occurs in the music business, but
it's now redefining the home-video business.
The demand is certainly there, and so is the supply. Premium
pricing and escalating demand translate into an increasingly
lucrative profit channel for suppliers. According to the DVD
Release Report, a weekly tip sheet, suppliers last year released
264 titles based on TV programs, more than 100 of them multidisc
sets. The trend is toward complete-season sets, in which the
difference in capacity and shelf space is most pronounced.
Everyone is getting into the act
Everyone, it seems, is getting in on the game. Paramount Home
Entertainment is capturing demographic segments with such diverse
fare as "I Love Lucy" and "Star Trek."
Universal will release "Battlestar Galactica," "Sliders,"
"Quantum Leap," "Dragnet," "Emergency,"
"Magnum P.I." and "The Rockford Files."
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, which began the drive to
market TV shows on DVD with "The X-Files," is enjoying
success with everything from "The Simpsons" to "Buffy
the Vampire Slayer."
Warner Home Video has released two best-selling complete-season
packages of "Friends," while HBO Home Video continues
to score big with seasonal installments of "The Sopranos"
and "Sex and the City."
With the wealth of newer TV shows bowing on DVD, it appears
both baby boomers and new buyers are ready to follow their TV
favorites to DVD.
Outlook 2004
With the explosive popularity of TV shows on DVD, consumers
are in for a big reality check. Sales of TV series on DVD are
expected to top $2 billion this year, and reality TV is a niche
studios are mining in hopes of continuing the profitable run.
Once viewed as the ultimate in disposable programming, reality
TV shows new and old are popping up on DVD, with enough buyers
to sustain an even greater flow in coming months.
About the Author
Jeff Hodges is the owner of Order DVD TV Shows (http://www.orderdvdtvshows.com),
which is a web site that focuses on community for TV shows on
DVD. You can also purchase TV shows on DVD through Order DVD
TV Shows too. |
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