Babylon 5- The Lost Tales *SPOILERS*

[NotKosh]

year ok - happy was perhaps the wrong word. Let's say I wasn't happy with the closing of all major story arcs at the end...

You should have said: "I was unhappy with the Scooby-Doo like ending of the David sub-plot"

[AmyG]

BTW, in the context of Warner Bros. I believe the word should always be spelled "scwewy".

Yeah, what a maroon (me, I mean)!

[Joseph DeMartino]

Turns out the figure was a mistake:

Joseph DeMartino wrote:
> Hard to tell where whoever wrote that press release got that figure.

It's an oopsie...they went off the last recorded year's sales figures, not the cumulative.

jms*
*directing his little brain out up in BC

So they used the number from last year, well after the entire set was out and sales would be at their lowest. (The sets have mostly been selling at or near MSRP and nearly all DVD releases sell much better in their first couple of weeks in release than they do at any time afterwards. Don't know if the $44 million is U.S./North America or worldwide. Either way, not bad for a 'stale' TV DVD set in a year with lots of competitoin.)

Regards,

Joe

[Joseph DeMartino]

In which case Warner Brothers' Home Entertainment division hopes to [sell ? - jd] $44 million worth of B5:TLT-1.

This, of course, does not remotely follow.

The $44 million figure - which may be a typo to begin with - is based on gross sales of a six disc set with an MSRP of $100 and a typical street price of around $50 to $75 dollars during the initial release. B5:TLT is going to be a single direct-to-home-video disc, which will probably be priced a bit below a new theatrical DVD release - say $25 list, $15 to $20 street. B5:TLT would have to sell over 2 million copies to reach the same gross sales number that the original would have reached selling around 450,000 copies.

If we had numbers for unit sales, we might be able to create a sensible estimate, but we don't. If all we have are gross dollar amounts we're comparing apples to oranges because of the difference in sales price.

Regards,

Joe

[Andrew_Swallow]

In which case Warner Brothers' Home Entertainment division hopes to $44 million worth of B5:TLT-1.

[WorkerCaste]

You know, the $44 million could easily be the average U.S. (or North American) sales per season set, which would get you to $220 million for the five seasons which in turn would be consistent with a world-wide gross of around $500 million assuming the rest of the world combined bought about as many copies as America did. (Which seems reasonable for a U.S.-produced show.)

That seems pretty reasonable. It would probably be about $260 million if you included the movie set with the 5 seasons.

[arius]

looks like the article has made it to thefutoncritic.com. scifi.com and aintitcool.com

[Joseph DeMartino]

You know, the $44 million could easily be the average U.S. (or North American) sales per season set, which would get you to $220 million for the five seasons which in turn would be consistent with a world-wide gross of around $500 million assuming the rest of the world combined bought about as many copies as America did. (Which seems reasonable for a U.S.-produced show.)

Regards,

Joe

[Joseph DeMartino]

As for the $44 million figure, I'm always surprised when people make a fuss about something like that. I'm sure Warner posted whatever figure seemed to be the most beneficial for them to post, for whatever screwy reason they thought best.

I'm sure you're right. I think it is just that the number is so far off from what has been previously dicussed that people are scratching their heads. Did the rest of the world really buy 9 DVD sets for every one sold in North America - or were the exchange rates so favorable to WB that they made that much more on them? Inquiring minds want to know, I guess.

BTW, in the context of Warner Bros. I believe the word should always be spelled "scwewy".

Joe

[Laiden]

Hello Everyone!

I know its been a while . . . but I just had to pop in and say:

WOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats all for now

[AmyG]

I saw the notice on zap2it.com today, too -- sweet, that we're in the mainstream tv media!

As for the $44 million figure, I'm always surprised when people make a fuss about something like that. I'm sure Warner posted whatever figure seemed to be the most beneficial for them to post, for whatever screwy reason they thought best.

(And thanks again for all the votes guys, and the nice compliments -- special shout-out to Darth_librarian for the Compliment of the Day! )

[Joseph DeMartino]

So far I have seen the press release show up on zap2it.com...

I got an e-mail alert from TV Shows on DVD, since I subscribe for all B5-related news.

Regards,

Joe

[SmileOfTheShadow]

Sweet..production today. That's great news in an otherwise dull world for me Interesting to find out the scoop behind that $44 mil number.

[arius]

So far I have seen the press release show up on zap2it.com, none of the other sites I regularly visit have it yet, but I am sure within 48 hrs or so all of the big sites that cover tv,dvd will have it

exciting times

I hope JMS finds time tonight to post about today

[Joseph DeMartino]

Thanks for posting that, Joe! Hope you don't mind, I've posted it a couple of other forums, too.

Jan

Not at all. I've done the same myself.

As for the $44 million - could be a typo. Could be domestic profits. Could be a lot of things. I seriously doubt they understated it in a press release to avoid payment issues, because a press release is not a legal document. Contracts, are, and those govern residuals, royalties, etc. As long as WB still shows B5 in the red as a whole, it wouldn't matter if the DVDs made $20 billion, profit participation still wouldn't kick in.

Sucks, but there you have it.

Joe

P.S.

Also posted this to the newsgroup. Will see if JMS has done so was well and/or if he replies and comments.