Industry Trade Magazine Home Media Retailing is reporting that Austin City Limits has come to DVD already, slipping under the radar here at TVShowsOnDVD with an initial slate of 4 releases already on the market, and with a second wave of 3 titles coming on May 10th, marketed by New West Records under the title Live From Austin, TX. Here are a few selected portions quoted from their article:
New West Records plans to mine its exclusive release agreement with the highly respected "Austin City Limits" PBS concert program...(a) second wave of titles from New West's "Live From Austin, TX" DVD line streets May 10, with performances from Lucinda Williams, Son Volt and Richard Thompson.
...Performances from the likes of Neil Young, Beck, The Pixies and many others are in the vaults of "Austin City Limits" programs, and New West has first and only rights to their DVD release.
...(T)he quality of the original "Austin City Limits" filming is undisputed in the music community, and New West has had few problems securing tricky artist rights to content.
Musicians like to have DVD product out there, (Steve) Rosenblatt (head of sales and marketing for New West Records) said. "As artists' careers grow, [music DVD] is like a statement, like a document of 'where I was as an artist when I performed that,'" he said.
"Austin City Limits" has been on the air for nearly 30 years and is a popular program, which spells impressions for both New West and the retailers who carry the DVD titles that come out of the series, Rosenblatt said.
...The TV program takes a 60- to 90-minute taping and turns it into a 25-minute airing, Rosenblatt said. New West takes the original footage, re-edits it using all the available camera angles, and offers the longer concert performance.
The "Live From Austin, TX" line launched last November with four titles, featuring performances from Susan Tedeschi, Robert Earl Keen, Steve Earle and The Flatlanders.
Yes, that first wave of titles has been available since November 2nd, and the second wave hits this coming Tuesday. For more information about each release, you can visit the official Live From Austin, TX website. Or, if you're already convinced and just want to order some of these, all 7 releases are available to order from Amazon.com, at discount prices ranging from $14.98 to $17.98 (list price is $19.98 for each title). Here's the cover art for all seven of these, with the three new titles magnified at the top:
  
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