Whats the timeline for when a TV series comes to DVD?
For current shows on major networks, they like to release them before the next season starts so they can take advantage of the advertising. The Office Season 3, for example, will come out 2 weeks before Season 4 starts. Fox does the same thing with 24 – this year’s season will be on DVD just before the new season starts. For the older shows or shows on smaller networks, there’s a lot involved. • Music rights have to be secured (this prevented WKRP in Cincinnati from being put on DVD for a long time, and they finally had to put some different music in place for the songs they couldn’t get permission to use). • If they’re including extras like retrospectives, commentaries, etc, then the old cast members need to be rounded up. • The studios have to gauge their audience and produce a DVD accordingly. • For smaller networks, this can mean waiting longer to ensure there is a good enough audience There’s a perfect example of how not to do this in Barney Miller (there’s a current question abou
For current shows on major networks, they like to release them before the next season starts so they can take advantage of the advertising. The Office Season 3, for example, will come out 2 weeks before Season 4 starts. Fox does the same thing with 24 – this year’s season will be on DVD just before the new season starts. For the older shows or shows on smaller networks, there’s a lot involved. • Music rights have to be secured (this prevented WKRP in Cincinnati from being put on DVD for a long time, and they finally had to put some different music in place for the songs they couldn’t get permission to use). • If they’re including extras like retrospectives, commentaries, etc, then the old cast members need to be rounded up. • The studios have to gauge their audience and produce a DVD accordingly. • For smaller networks, this can mean waiting longer to ensure there is a good enough audience There’s a perfect example of how not to do this in Barney Miller (there’s a current question abou
