Having made a decision in my own household to cancel the cable services in favour of purchasing television series on DVD, I was wondering what other people's stances were on that same subject? Remember that I work for a cable provider so I'm cancelling cable that's given me at a discount.
With the increasing availability of TV series on DVD, a patient person can watch one favourite show in DVD format while waiting for a season of another show to end so that it can then become available on disc as well. Heck, for the serious collector, one can watch and rewatch favourite episodes from select shows instead of waiting for those particular episodes to come out in reruns. I know that my girl has the entire series of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer on DVD, and there are about 6 episodes that we regularly pop in for a bit of fun (Once More With Feeling, anyone?). We've watched the first two seasons of Battlestar Galactica, though we rented that, and we're eagerly awaiting the third. Mel, because of how much she's moved around, who hasn't had the opportunity to really subscribe to cable, has pretty much all of her favourite shows (Stargate SG-1... and, ummmm.... Stargate SG-1?) on DVD, and I don't think that she now has any interest in obtaining cable.
So it seems to me that spending $40 to $90 on an entire SEASON of a show is such a better investment than spending the same amount of money in a month on the off chance that a particular channel is going to show the episode or the series in which you're interested. TV is full of so much chaff these days (some gold, as well, but rarely) that it seems insane not to take control and personally customize your entertainment experience. Yes, it means we have to wait for the season to be over to grab it on DVD, but how much of a hardship is that, really? It builds anticipation, and when we finally get our hands on that season we can devour it over a period of days rather than one episode a week.
I also wonder what the future holds for the market for tv shows on DVD. I mean, really, if the companies were smart, they'd release the series 1 DVD at a time, 4 episodes a disc at $15 a pop. I mean, I'd still probably buy it, it would make the company more money, and it might start to make cable television a thing of the past.
3 comments:
I can't watch TV on TV anymore. I need to watch it on DVD. 24 anyone? How can anyone wait a week between episodes, let alone commericials?!
I do, however, still have cable just because... I dunno, I like to come home from work and flip through the the channels and whatnot, and I like watching CSI and Seinfeld reruns - they're like comfort food. I'm a sucker I guess. Whatever.
Don't you have both CSI and Seinfeld on DVD? :)
Indeed I do. But still....
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