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Stargate: Atlantis
Season 4 |
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Site News - We Look Into Reports of Sony's Plans For HP's Manufacture-On-Demand Process
We also found out some interesting aspects of their upcoming 'normal' TV-DVD schedule |
Posted by David Lambert
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1/27/2008
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Many, many readers have written to us this past week concerning the news that Sony has signed a deal with HP to make DVDs "manufactured-on-demand" ("MOD"). The gist of it is that the concept allows Sony to take unreleased content - including possibly TV show programming - and find a way to release it strictly on an as-ordered basis, instead of printing up factory-made DVDs. This saves Sony the trouble of "gauging demand" and "maintaining inventory", two key obstacles with releasing titles that are potentially slower movers.
Sony is not the first company to sign up for HP's plan; merely the largest so far. Other studios include First Look (who puts out DVDs for classic sitcom The Cosby Show), Arts Alliance America (which releases titles under their "TV Guide Presents..." license) and Gaiam (who distributes Living With Ed and other shows). Although we don't know which titles have specifically been licensed to HP's MOD scheme, we understand that there are around 5000 titles potentially involved. Still, as a consumer, I haven't seen any advertising yet telling me where or how to buy these. Have you?
The biggest issue everyone must keep in mind here is that there are other obstacles as well, besides the ones listed above. Music licensing costs would still be there. The cost of residuals for crew and cast (writers, directors, featured talent, etc.) that have already been agreed upon don't disappear due to a MOD delivery system. And the footage and soundtracks of each production still need to be located and probably restored. These are all fixed costs that occur no matter how the content is going to be delivered! It is not only a roadblock for MOD, but for delivery for rebroadcast on television, or for digital delivery (such as iTunes, for example) as well. A question new to the MOD plans would be something which is an issue for any type of burn-on-demand process: what will the disc label look like? What kind of "box" (or sleeve) will the disc be delivered in? What will these look like on the shelf of fans who also buy high-end collectible box sets of their favorite shows, that look like delivery trucks or refridgerators? These situations all need to be worked out!
Even though the Sony/HP press release discusses the possibility of television content being delivered via this MOD method, please don't expect to necessarily be able to get your favorite missing-on-DVD show by this process as soon as tomorrow, next week, or even next month. It is still going to take time and effort to put it together, and that effort includes the work of "the little people" at studios involved in this plan, including Sony. We've gotten in touch with some of our contacts at Sony that would almost certainly be involved in any such work, and they haven't been told to get started on any tasks yet related to this project. In fact, a couple of them only knew about it because we told them. So it looks like nothing practical has gotten off the ground yet...it's all being planned out in the upper echelons of the company at the moment.
In fact, we were dismayed to learn that there isn't too much going on in the TV-DVD front for retail purchases, either. Due to some bumps in the road necessitating a juggle in the scheduling, we've learned that Sony won't have any TV-DVD titles released in April! Items are on the way, but unfortunately they simply won't make it out during that month.
We begged for info about the two Sony shows we get the most reader questions about, the final season of I Dream of Jeannie and the last few seasons of Bewitched. We were told to never fear, those are indeed in the works. But the next DVD packages for each are not ready to be announced yet. So stay tuned, and we'll let you know when they are coming! And we'll also let you know when there is something solid to pass along about this MOD thing, so don't touch that dial.
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Link to this page:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Site-News-Sony-HP-Manufacture-On-Demand-DVDs/8867 |
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All news for this show:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/shownews/Site-News/4873 |
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