Victories come in all sizes; in some ways, this is a small one,
in other ways this is a big one.
For four years, we bugged Warner Bros. Home Video about
releasing B5 on videocassette in retail outlets. But WB has never
released a series before on tape, it's not something they *do*, not
sufficiently prestige when compared with their big movies. Eventually
they were persuaded to let Columbia House try it for mail-order, for
the first season.
And CH was *swamped* with orders. Phones rang off the hook, and
tapes were back-ordered to try and fill the demand.
And Warner Bros...noticed.
And this month, they made a big announcement about the coming
release of Babylon 5 on video through retail outlets all over the
country. I've seen the cover designs for the first batch, and they're
extremely good looking montages, each specifically designed for that
tape. They're putting a lot of thought and effort and time into this,
and a big campaign. I believe the first batch hits the stands in July
or August, somewhere in there.
This is a big victory for us. On a grand scale, it may seem
minor, but it's the most direct statement of "you were right" we've
ever had from WB, and they were sufficiently mensches to say so, and
act on it.
If these go well, they're also talking laserdisks and DVDs down
the road, and should THAT happen, I'm going to push like hell to have
them release the widescreen versions.
But that's the next campaign. For now, this is a big victory
for us, and we're mighty pleased.
jms |
|
