If You Want Crusade On DVD

[KoshN]

If you ever want to see Crusade on DVD, now is probably a good time to mention it to Doug Wadleigh at Warner Home Video.

Doug Wadleigh
Vice-President, Marketing and Special Features
Warner Home Video
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522



This quote:

"Obviously, you are looking for a program that has broad mass appeal like 'Friends' and 'The West Wing,'" Wadleigh said. "But there are others that don't attract such a large audience, like 'Babylon 5,' where the audience is very passionate. You see that in some of our competitors like 'Dune,' 'Farscape' and 'Buffy.' All have proven you can take programs and make them into a successful DVD franchise."

...from this article:

Series, old and new, are getting the DVD treatment

...is probably a good thing to use.

 

[Shaal Mayan]

I saw that article Babylon 5 has never been a great money maker like Trek or other shows .Which shall remain nameless we need to buy those Babylon 5 first season DVD's. That I am afraid is the only way to change the percepation of B5 in general. For being labeled a not so great money maker besides .We won't have answer when and if Crusade comes to DVD is after or not long before the release of season 5.

 

[KoshN]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
<font color="yellow"> Originally posted by NAME: </font color>
I saw that article Babylon 5 has never been a great money maker like Trek or other shows which shall remain nameless we need to buy those Babylon 5 first season DVD's that I am afraid is the only way to change the percepation of B5 in general for being labeled a not so great money maker besides we won't have answer when and if Crusade comes to DVD is after or not long before the release of season 5.

[/quote]


No offense, but what do you have against capitalization and punctuation? /forums/images/icons/shocked.gif /forums/images/icons/smile.gif It's like one massive, run-on sentence.


Is it a "requirement" that Seasons 1 thru 5 of Babylon 5 come out on DVD before Crusade comes out on DVD? As Morden would say, tell 'em what you want.

 

[Shaal Mayan]

Hopefully that looks better.

 

[A_M_Swallow]

If the CDs are anything like the British VHS cassettes then Crusade is year 6 of Babylon 5.

There is no need to push it until Season 3 is being produced.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Is it a "requirement" that Seasons 1 thru 5 of Babylon 5 come out on DVD before Crusade comes out on DVD?

[/quote]

No, but it is the most reasonable thing to do, both from a continuity and a business standpoint. Similarly it wasn't a requirement that Paramount relase ST:TOS, then TNG, DS9 and Voyager in that order. In fact, there was talk of releasing Voyager after TOS because it had been digitally mastered during the original production, and TOS had just been remastered for the Sci-Fi Channel broadcast, whereas the other two series needed extensive work before they could be released on DVD. But Paramount decided to release them in the order the series debuted.

From a story standpoint, Crusade takes place after all but one episode of B5, and after all but one of the TV movies. Why release it "out of order"? Since the TV movies themselves (excepting the two already released) take place in mid-S4 or after "Objects at Rest", odds are they won't be released until we hit S4 and S5. And Crusade likely won't be released until after the movie that sets it up is. (Or at least it won't be released before ACtA. They could be released at the same time.)

From a business standpoint, Crusade is an iffy proposition. It isn't like Warner Bros. can project that as many people will buy Crusade as buy the B5 sets. They have to know that many B5 fans never warmed up to it, and that of those who did, not all will want to own the 13 finished episodes of an incomplete series. The size of the potential market for Crusade will certainly be a fraction of that for S1 through S4 of B5. The only season it might be roughly comparable to is the slightly problematic S5. So until the sales numbers for S5 are in, they really won't have any basis for estimating the sales potential of Crusade. Once they do have those numbers in hand, they'll release Crusade if they think they can profitably do so. If they don't think they can, they won't. They'll do this whether they receive 10,000 letters asking for Crusade on DVD or NO letters asking for it. They already know that at least a segment of the B5 audience is going to be interested in Crusade. Releasing it will be WHV's default position, pending the sales numbers on B5 and the TV movies. I seriously doubt they need any further prodding.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Mike G]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
The only season it might be roughly comparable to is the slightly problematic S5

[/quote]

Why do you say that?

Season 5 was not as popular as seasons 3 or 4, but Most fans who are buying season 1 through 4 would still want it.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Why do you say that?

Season 5 was not as popular as seasons 3 or 4...

[/quote]

I say it because S5 was not as popular as S3 & S4, as you say yourself, and because some fans are likely not to buy it who buy the earlier seasons. I'm not sure how large a fraction of the audience for the earlier seasons this group will represent (and neither does Warner Bros.), but I'm sure it will be measurable, and therefore something they will have to take into account.

That's why I qualified my original comment with "might" and "roughly".

I expect the sales for the sets to form a bell curve, with sales increasing from S1 through S4 and dropping off a bit for S5. I'm sure that the Warner Home Video's marketing people know this as well. So I believe that they'll want to see those S5 sales numbers before they seriously consider Crusade, because that would be the best thing to base their estimate of the size of potential Crusade sales on.

Requires,

Joe

 

[KoshN]

Joe, you may be right, but I don't see how anybody could do without the Centauri War (especially because of those Londo and G'Kar moments), those Lyta scenes as she grew in power, and SiL. If it's at all possible, I certainly will be getting all five seasons, all the movies (hopefully including an SE of The Gathering, and In the Beginning), and all of Crusade. /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I don't see how anybody could do without the Centauri War (especially because of those Londo and G'Kar moments), those Lyta scenes as she grew in power, and SiL.

[/quote]

All of which many people already have on commercial VHS or LD (the other reason I think S1 and S5 will be the poorest sellers is that they were completed on other media in the U.S.) or can buy now if they prefer to "cherry pick". Or they can tape them off the air. So it isn't a matter of "having or not having", but of "buying on DVD or not buying on DVD" and I think enough people will balk at paying $60 to $75 (street price) for the 1/2 to 2/3 of the season they really want that it will have a measurable effect on sales.

Regards,

Joe