Is Cost Hurting Blu-ray TV Sales?

An article published over at videobusiness.com has indicated that several TV series previously released as Blu-ray boxsets have returned to being DVD-only for their latest seasons.  The titles cited are Rescue Me, Damages and Nip/Tuck, now unavailable as physical HD home versions.  Interestingly, the figures quoted say that Blu-ray accounts for just 5% of a TV series total sales, while a big-name film's HD version can be responsible for as much as 30%.

When asked about the reason their show Nip/Tuck hadn't returned as a Blu-ray set, the VP of TV Marketing at Warner Home Video said simply that '(previous) Blu-ray sales were insufficient to continue releasing in the format'.  Of course, this naturally leads one to think that the pricing differences between the Blu and DVD sets are to blame, especially when you look closely.

The big TV release this week is Season 5 of Lost.  On Amazon.com, the DVD version is yours for $34.99, but the Blu-ray will set you back $46.99, a considerable difference.  However, when you look at Amazon's top sellers listing, the complete series DVD boxset of Rome at $77.49 is fourth, yet the same set on Blu-ray is at number one, and it costs $83.99.  If you shop around prices vary considerably too, for example, over at Amazon.co.uk the recently released Fringe Season 1 set is £24.57 on DVD and £25.37 on Blu-ray - a mere 80p difference.

So is disc pricing the only cause of this Blu-TV apathy, or is there something else to consider?  Lets look at the series in question.  Perhaps committed viewers of Nip/Tuck, Damages and Rescue Me simply aren't interested in HD programming, but those of Lost, Battlestar Galactica and similarly successful Blu-ray TV shows are?  The videobusiness article mentions Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Fringe as having strong Blu-ray sales too.  Two distinct genre's with two different sets of results, suggesting this is perhaps more about the type of series than the price.  Does it makes sense that the sci-fi fan is an early adopter of new tech?  More than likely, hence their increased popularity on Blu-ray.

Looking at it this way, would dropping the price of the aforementioned shows have made any difference to sales?  Possibly not, as the majority of potential purchasers may not even have a Blu-ray player, but it could have assisted with their decision to buy one.  Instead, the sets are not produced, so where has the incentive to upgrade and subsequently drive the format gone?  

Let us know, has the increased price put you off buying a Blu-ray TV series over the DVD version?

Comments

[Robby Dzwonar]

You would think that TV shows on Blu Ray would actually be cheaper than their DVD counterparts. You should be able to fit more episodes on one disc, right? Less discs means less packaging, right? They probably could pull it off they just don't.

Actually one time I went to Best Buy right after I got my PS3 and ended up getting the first season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Blu Ray for cheaper then what they were charging for the DVD set. I believe it was on sale though.

[PAUL WAINMAN]

Having had a blu ray player for a mere 2 weeks and got 3 films with it,all sci-fi, then maybe there is a arguement for both but personally I would buy all of my future dvd's on blu ray if the cost was right.Let's hope the head people start to realise this.

[Andy Boxall]

The Simpsons 20th Season will be two Blu-ray discs instead of at least five for the DVD, so it would certainly save on packaging, but this may be canceled out by the increased disc cost.

I also think that with a little patience and some shopping around - especially online - Blu-ray doesn't have to be that much more expensive that DVD.

Hope you're enjoying your player, Paul!

[Jeff Goss]

If a series has any visual/audio appeal (eye candy) that would justify having the blu-ray version over the dvd format, I will buy the blu-ray version. If not...well what is the point unless a particular series has some individualized appeal to me for some reason. If and when blu-ray becomes comparable in pricing to what dvd is now it will be a different ball game of course. For now, I pick and choose the format for movies/tv series based on content and pricing. If the price is steep though, I'll simply wait for a used copy on Amazon or whatever. That's my 2 cents on it anyway.