Several weeks ago we
told you about a special
American Idol DVD release that was made available only in stores of longtime
Idol sponsor Cingular Wireless. That's a good enought one to get, especially at the promotion price, but it's hardly what we were all expecting when we read
last February's news that Fremantle "
is in negotiations with a video company to release the first three seasons of the program on DVD."
Now a new article in
Video Business magazine's May 2nd edition discusses the plans for this releases that we actually expected after reading the previous story. The new article also talks about how Fremantle owns other properties, including game shows like
The Price Is Right, and how DVDs featuring the funniest moments from the game shows could be as popular as a DVD full of the, uh, worst
American Idol auditions. Here's a quote from the article by
Video Business Editor-in-Chief Scott Hettrick:
(VP development for Fremantle Home Entertainment, Americas Sam) Toles is researching the Fremantle archives and working with Fremantle programs currently in production, including American Idol and The Price is Right, to ensure that DVD rights are cleared and extra content is produced during production.
The process could take four or five months, but then Fremantle should be ready to release at least 25 DVD titles a year starting in 2006. Among the likely releases will DVDs connected to Idol and other Idol programs around the world, such as compilations of funny tryouts, one of which be released as early as this year.
Similarly, (senior VP home entertainment and archive sales Pete) Kalhan said compilations of funny moments from game shows would be released in the next 12 months.
Other game shows Fremantle is connected with includes
Family Feud, Match Game, and
Whammy - The All New Press Your Luck!. Besides
American Idol, other international versions of the show include the original U.K. program
Pop Idol, plus other regional versions that cover Canada, Australia, South Africa, Poland, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Pan-Arabic region, France, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Portugal, Russia, Serbia & Montenegro, Croatia, New Zealand, Czech Republic, and Kazakhstan. FremantleMedia has partnered with Capital Entertainment Enterprises to distribute DVDs in North America. Stay tuned for updates on the various releases planned to come based on this partnership.
