AfterDawn: News

A few TV series move from Blu-ray back to DVD-only

Despite the large growth of Blu-ray on the whole over the past two years, a few studios have scaled back on their TV series releases in Blu-ray, rolling back to DVD-only releases.

A few of the series in question are Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me and Damages, popular on TV but apparently not as popular on BD.



Overall, TV series on Blu-ray sell only 5 percent of the copies they do on DVD, compared to 15-25 percent for most new releases in both formats.

The discrepancy in sales can mainly be attributed to the larger pricing differences, which can be over $10 for most releases. For example, the price difference of a DVD and Blu-ray of a new release (such as Harry Potter 6) can be under $5 while most, if not all TV series have a difference of over $10, with some as high as $20 for premium cable channel programming.

“The significant amount of content and multiple discs make the financial model challenging for many TV series on Blu-ray and is a significant reason for the methodical approach studios are taking to release product,” added Rosemary Markson, VP of TV marketing for Warner Home Video, via VB. “Unfortunately, Nip/Tuck Blu-ray sales were insufficient to continue releasing in the format.”

Some TV shows outperform however, but not enough for the entire industry to remain in Blu-ray at this point.

“Over half of our Mad Men copies sold on Blu-ray,” noted David Barker, VP of e-commerce marketing at DeepDiscount.com. “But there’s The Office, with a $69.99 SRP Blu-ray and $59.99 SRP DVD, where just under 5% of copies sold in high-def.”

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 7 Dec 2009 16:07

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• 7 comments

• JaguarGod

  Why would anyone want the Blu Ray "experience" for something like nip/tuck??? It's not like a big budget movie where you have tons of special effects loud explosions that can actually benefit from better audio and picture quality...
  
  I don't buy many BD movies, but when I do I restrict it to movies like Transformers, Batman, etc... where the movies are long and have some nice special effects. Anything like a sitcom, comedy movie, etc... is a waste on BD. I think studios are realizing that not all people are morons and see that something like The Office on DVD or Blu Ray is exactly the same since you are not watching the Office for its awesome picture quality and amazing surround sound...

  7.12.2009 16:36 #1

• jos22

  yet for a series people want to buy in UK dexter on bluray which is already out in the US. for some reason they seem to have no intention of releasing it on region B bluray

  7.12.2009 22:18 #2

• bomber991

  Originally posted by JaguarGod: Why would anyone want the Blu Ray "experience" for something like nip/tuck??? It's not like a big budget movie where you have tons of special effects loud explosions that can actually benefit from better audio and picture quality...
  
  I don't buy many BD movies, but when I do I restrict it to movies like Transformers, Batman, etc... where the movies are long and have some nice special effects. Anything like a sitcom, comedy movie, etc... is a waste on BD. I think studios are realizing that not all people are morons and see that something like The Office on DVD or Blu Ray is exactly the same since you are not watching the Office for its awesome picture quality and amazing surround sound...Yep, I keep saying it. They need to just sell bluray for the same price as dvd. The media not the players. Sure the quality is better on bluray but that $10 markup isn't there to cover the higher cost of the plastic disc and blue dye in the disc case. It's there so the manufacturers can make an extra $10 off of that movie that they normally wouldn't have made.

  7.12.2009 23:20 #3

• kyo28

  Personally I don't mind paying the additional 10 USD for blu-ray editions, provided the upgrade is noticeable. In the past 2 years, I haven't purchased a single TV season on DVD but have purchased various on blu-ray:
  - LOST: great video & audio upgrade. Season will have online Lost Academny
  - Battlestar Galactica
  - Star Trek TOS seasons 1-3
  - Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles
  - Dollhouse
  - Firefly
  All of these offer a noticeable upgrade in picture & sound quality and some have additional extras the DVD's don't have.
  
  But I agree that for certain series, the difference isn't as noticeable (mostly drama/soap kind of series) and in those cases, I agree it's not worth investing more. I also don't see myself purchasing a series like Nip/Tuck or Desperate Housewives on Blu-ray.

  8.12.2009 04:19 #4

• Tecbot

  I have bought the office but thats it for tv shows, I too usually only buy blu-rays I really like but have been buying more older titles as they are semi-reasonably priced. Only way id consider buying series if the prices wernt $150+ for a few seasons, sure its a few hours of entertainment but after watching it once im unlikely to ever watch a tv series again, movies on the otherhand I will watch my favorites a whole bunch of times.
  
  Theres no way im paying $35 for a new blu-ray or $25 for a new dvd. they wonder why sales suck when the prices remain the same, id rather just rent from shoppers or any pharmacy that has $1 rentals for new releases for the night.

  9.12.2009 00:22 #5

• kyo28

  Originally posted by Tecbot: I have bought the office but thats it for tv shows, I too usually only buy blu-rays I really like but have been buying more older titles as they are semi-reasonably priced. Only way id consider buying series if the prices wernt $150+ for a few seasons, sure its a few hours of entertainment but after watching it once im unlikely to ever watch a tv series again, movies on the otherhand I will watch my favorites a whole bunch of times.
  
  Theres no way im paying $35 for a new blu-ray or $25 for a new dvd. they wonder why sales suck when the prices remain the same, id rather just rent from shoppers or any pharmacy that has $1 rentals for new releases for the night.Check out Amazon, they have a special deal: 108 USD for 5 seasons of LOST on Blu-ray. Great value for money! Deal won't last long though.
  
  I also think 35 USD is too much for a new blu, but when I shop smart (mostly Amazon, also HMV and so on), I usually get new blu's for 19.99, catalog titles for 10 or less. Harry Potter & the Half-blood Prince is down to 15.99 now on Amazon if you're interested.

  9.12.2009 03:17 #6

• JaguarGod

  Yeah, I will wait until prices settle on series. I am not into Lost, but $22 per season seems reasonable. I usually buy DVD series at $10 per season and I only buy movies that I know I will watch more than once or if they are like $2 for the DVD, cause that is only $1 more than renting and saves me the return trip.
  
  For older movies that are out on the format, I just buy them in HD DVD. They run anywhere from $2 - $5, so it saves me some cash and there's no difference with Blu Ray.

  9.12.2009 22:36 #7