Newsgroup: it.comp.console.playstation
Titolo: DVDs and the Military-Industrial conspiracy

 they could get four on a dual-layer disc.
A dual-layer disc can hold up to four hours per side.   That means that they could fit
five episodes of a 45-min TV show on each side.  They could put ten episodes of Star
Trek or the Avengers on one disc, or five four-episode Doctor Who serials.
The fact is:  this is just wishful thinking.   First of all, almost every episode of
Doctor Who has been previously released on video, and the number of fans that existed
when each of those videos was released is roughly equal to the numbers fans that exist
now.  The rumors of a DVD release of The Five Doctors can't be expected to pan out
(although they might).
My theory is that they could make a killing on DVDs if they put more stuff on them, or
brought the price down.  I know they're trying to justify expenditure, and make enough
profit to justify the release, but it must be said that DVDs cost way too much, and
Doctor Who episodes cost way too much, especially when you realize that you may not
watch them as often as you'd watch a movie you'd bought.  (We all may like Doctor Who,
but it really is quite a cheasy, cheap, and sometimes rather lame show, with little
more than a cult following, and it isn't good enough to watch the same serial once a
day for an entire, as I have done with some movies.)
DVD's, as many have said, cost much less to mass-produce than videotapes, yet DVDs
cost more.   If DVDs did indeed cost less to buy, more people would shell out the wads
of cash to purchase a player, because they'd get more for less in the long-run.   This
might also be the case if they released more discs with a lot of stuff on them.
Quantum Leap is available on DVD, for $45 Canadian, and you get one episode.   On the
other hand, you can now get two old movies (Shirley Temple, old sci-fi, John Wayne,
etc.) for a relatively cheap price, on one disc.   For a higher price, you can get
Desperado and El Mariachi on the same disc for about fifty bucks.
To relate this to Doctor Who, I think that if they released four serials on one disc,
then they could sell enough of them to justify the release.  If all the episodes exist
on tape, and the show is so cheaply made that digital picture and sound don't make a
difference, then getting four for the price of one might stimulate adequate sales.
And, of course, if the BBC would bother to do the research, and realize that if they
brought the show back onto the air, they could sell more Doctor Who stuff, including
old stuff.  Look at the recent revitalized Star Wars (1993-present) and Batman (1989)
popularity that came with recent promotions.  If they want to sell more Doctor Who
DVDs, then all they need to do is continue with the new show they promised us three
years ago.  I was very excited to hear that the FOX network would be making a new,
improved Doctor Who to show in North America, because I had read the novelisation of
State of Decay years before, and even then I could tell this show was potentially
worth watching.
I think that with recently innovations in plot and story standards, and especially
with special effects, Doctor Who could be back with a vengeance.  I think it would be
something wonderful if The Curse of the Fatal Death was actually intended to be a sort
of pilot to trick the BBC into a new series.   Can you imagine the popularity of a
Doctor Who with Rowan Atkinson, Jonathan Pryce, and Julie Sawalha?     Now that would
be something worth selling, even by BBC standards!  Forget Saturday afternoons;  this
one would go primetime!
--
Daniel Aubrey White
"Everything you know is wrong."  -Weird Al Yankovic
http://www.geocities.com/televisioncity/set/4315
--
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In a message dated 6/26/99 1:05:50 AM, 
wh...@quik.com
 writes:
<<And, of course, if the BBC would bother to do the research, and realize 
that if they
brought the show back onto the air, they could sell more Doctor Who stuff, 
including
old stuff. >>
See, the problem is, there is no "the BBC." There are the BBCs. Lots and lots 
of them, and they don't all talk to each other. 
BBC Worldwide does the research and knows full well they could sell lots of 
stuff. But they don't make programming decisions. When they tried to make a 
programming decision, they were slapped down.
Tom Beck
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