Wow. You know, I've been lamenting that we don't have a decent OAV market in the U.S. Maybe this is actually the start of it. You produce the entire OAV series, show five episodes on Fox, and then cancel it. Broadcast TV essentially becomes one big preview channel.
It's actually been talked about for awhile, but, it's a painfully slow process. Last year, when Angel was cancelled, there was talk of skipping the network, and producing Angel straight to DVD. I think one of the main reasons that this didn't happen is that were 2 rights holders. That is, WB paid for Angel to be produced, but Fox owns the DVD rights. Fox is making a tidy profit on the secondary product, but, has no interest in fronting the money to produce more episodes, and more people would have to buy the DVDs to make a profit on producing the show. Similar tale for Family Guy which was possibly going to be revived as a straight-to-DVD market, but, the costs were actually too high.
Anyway, I do like the idea in general, especially since it means that I can be more chosey in the TV product I consume, not only about the product type, but, also the delivery of it (I'm not forced to watch it on a particular night, or, during February, or, see commercials.). And, on the cheap, I can get them from Netflix.
Actually, Rhonda and I now TiVo everything we watch. I was curious what it does to our TV habits, because it's basically the same idea as DVD, just free.
We've gone from 3-4 hours of TV a night to 1-2 hours. I was surprised. Essentially, there are a couple of reasons for this:
1) no ads (an hour show is 45 minutes unless it's on HBO) 2) no delayed start time (if we sit down for an HBO show at 6:45, we're done at 7:45, not 8:00, since we start when we want and don't have to wait for the show to start if we're early 3) less crap
This last point deserves some mention. I think I just have lower standards for TV when it's being broadcast. If there's a show that's crappy on TiVo, I just stop watching it or delete it. I would probably sit through the whole thing if it were being broadcast, because hey, what else is there to do?
I think TV on DVD transforms television watching into an intentional experience rather than passively sitting back and letting the TV entertain you. That could be frustrating if I had gone through my TiVo or netflix collection and had nothing else to be intentional about. But hell, that's when you run to Blockbuster if you really need something brain dead to watch right this second.
I am in favor of this transition. Now we just need to figure out how to make this into an economic success. I still say subscriptions (like Netflix) are the way to go for entertainment, rather than per-viewing expenses.
Free except for the price of cable/satellite. I'm seriousl considering what sort of education/equipment we could get with that $50/month. I love the TiVo but especially with the all the control that is being stripped away from me on the DVR (this was interesting thank God I have an honest to God TiVo). I am all over Television as an intential act, and I think TiVo and netflix are making that much more of a reality.
I actually really enjoyed that article. It's sad, but largely true. Of course, shows need an audience to survive on air. And, as much as I adore TV on DVD, I like shows to get more than 3-4 episode runs.
He posted something of a follow-up to that article this week, which also talks about sweeps.
Naturally, of course, for recommendations on shows, well, this is where you just ask me. It's really quite sad the amount of TV that is aired in my house.
It might be time for me to do my web-site intended writing plan. Tuesdays I will right about TV.
I never watched a single episode of Buffy until after it was off the air (in first-run broadcast), but I have found a love for show in DVD form. The themes, plot, and character arc are a lot clearer when you can watch a whole season in a week or 2. And Chris and I just got Hollywood Video's Netflix-esque MVP program where you can basically rent as many videos as you want for $10 a month. Why choose between "Fear Factor" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: The crap you didn't see yesterday," when you can watch 4 episodes of "curb your enthusiasm" or the like? I now have access to lots of great shows I've never seen because I don't have cable, let alone HBO.
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Y'know, I could probably cope with that.
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Anyway, I do like the idea in general, especially since it means that I can be more chosey in the TV product I consume, not only about the product type, but, also the delivery of it (I'm not forced to watch it on a particular night, or, during February, or, see commercials.). And, on the cheap, I can get them from Netflix.
further observation
We've gone from 3-4 hours of TV a night to 1-2 hours. I was surprised. Essentially, there are a couple of reasons for this:
1) no ads (an hour show is 45 minutes unless it's on HBO)
2) no delayed start time (if we sit down for an HBO show at 6:45, we're done at 7:45, not 8:00, since we start when we want and don't have to wait for the show to start if we're early
3) less crap
This last point deserves some mention. I think I just have lower standards for TV when it's being broadcast. If there's a show that's crappy on TiVo, I just stop watching it or delete it. I would probably sit through the whole thing if it were being broadcast, because hey, what else is there to do?
I think TV on DVD transforms television watching into an intentional experience rather than passively sitting back and letting the TV entertain you. That could be frustrating if I had gone through my TiVo or netflix collection and had nothing else to be intentional about. But hell, that's when you run to Blockbuster if you really need something brain dead to watch right this second.
I am in favor of this transition. Now we just need to figure out how to make this into an economic success. I still say subscriptions (like Netflix) are the way to go for entertainment, rather than per-viewing expenses.
Re: further observation
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He posted something of a follow-up to that article this week, which also talks about sweeps.
Naturally, of course, for recommendations on shows, well, this is where you just ask me. It's really quite sad the amount of TV that is aired in my house.
It might be time for me to do my web-site intended writing plan. Tuesdays I will right about TV.
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Beautiful sentence.
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