Firefly by subscription?

POSTED BY: Avatar
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 21:08
VIEWED: 17493
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AVATAR

Monday, January 6, 2003 10:21 PM

As one who has been physically ill since finding out Firefly was cancelled, I've been racking my brain to think of ways to save it.

One thought that I've had is that even though our "paltry" 4 million or so viewers isn't enough to support a broadcast TV show (in Fox's mind, at least), we do represent a significant number of money-earning (or at least credit-card-using) individuals.

If everyone were willing to pay just $1 for an episode on DVD (or by download), by my math, that would be $4 million bucks. I don't know how much an ep costs, but it's got to be less than that. I know everyone wouldn't want to part with $1 and lots of cretins would rather just make a bootleg copy, but even if 400,000 people were willing to spend $5 per ep, that's still $2 million to keep Serenity flying each week.

Does anyone know how much an ep costs? Also, has anyone ever heard of a "subscription" TV show before?

(Please feel free to tell me why I'm either a genius or an idiot...)

LORA

Monday, January 6, 2003 11:08 PM

I like this idea a lot. It would be great to have Firefly on tape (without having to fight with my VCR) with NO COMMERCIALS and be able to watch it whenever I want.

Is there anyone reading this who knows jack about production costs?

I don't care, I'm still free. You can't take the sky from me.

CARDIE

Monday, January 6, 2003 11:30 PM

I'd imagine Firefly costs somewhere between $750,000 and $1 million per episode. But keeping it in production, paying actors' and crews' salaries requires an upfront commitment. No one is going to pass up other work on the hopes that all those dollar bills will come flowing in. Also, there's no way to know how many of the four million viewers love "Firefly" so much that they'd pay to see it, rather than picking it up for free while channel surfing. The only way such subscription TV could work would be if some big risk-taking entrepreneur got sufficient capital investment to produce episodes of excellent niche shows, investing the money upfront, and then gambled on being able to sell enough episodes through pay-per-view to produce a decent return on investment. Actually, if I had lots of money, I'd love creating the "Second Chance" subscription channel and commissioning new episodes of worthy cancelled shows. But I suspect I'd have to run it as a charity.

Cardie

SERSI

Monday, January 6, 2003 11:37 PM

I like this idea, too. I'd be willing to pay more than $5.00 an episode because I'm really fed up with all my favorite shows being cancelled.

I think ST:TNG cost around a million an episode. Of course, that was several years ago, but also before computerized special effects, which, I understand, cost less. I don't know how Firefly films, but I would like to think the fans could afford whatever it costs.

Four million viewers is great, but how many of them are true postcard-writing fans and how many were just casual watchers?

MOLLYBLOOM

Monday, January 6, 2003 11:39 PM

Aside from the production costs, do you think the actors would agree to this sort of thing? The sort of limited exposure a show by subscription would naturally have might deter them from signing a contract.

HAKEN

Monday, January 6, 2003 11:44 PM

I don't know about limited exposure, but the entire Porn industry works this way. And they've succeeded at delivering content in an alternative manner for years.

CAPTAINMAL

Monday, January 6, 2003 11:52 PM

It SEEMS to me that if such a thing were practical it would have already been done but let's just say theoretically that each EP cost 1.5 mil, and that the production and distribution cost (for the DVD's which I presume would be the prefered method of distrobution) was a genorus half mil.

That's 2 million per episode.

Now, let's say that you would subscribe to a service akin to a record club (except you don't have right of refusal) in which you would be sent perhaps 2-3 eps at a time 10 times a year.

Let's be bold and say you get 30 episodes and for eact you pay three dollars...round it off and say you pay $100 for your subscription.

30 eps * 2 mil = 60 mil devided by $100 per subscription = 600,000 subscribers to break even.

Probably a million to make the start-up of a brand new venture worthwhile.

But it seems to me this would have to be something bigger than one show. But some bright boy with gobs of money ought to check into it...if you could offer the latest effort from the best of the best producers - name guys like Weldon and Chris Carter, etc - uncensored, uninteruppted, uncancelable, for 1/3 more eps per year...you should be able to sell that...and need less viewers over break even to make the whole thing profitable.

Add to that that some shows would not be as expensive to produce as others thus increasing the profit margins there...

The start up expense would be huge without shows ready to go (for instance, if one was ready to go right now they could start with Firefly, and Farscape lower thestartup costs) but if someone wanted to gamble the necessary capital, it seems like a solid idea. The trick would be selling the show unseen. You'd have to be very creative to get half million or more subscribers to a show no one has seen. And it wouldn't be practical, I would think, to just hang around a canabalize shows the networks started up and then cancelled.

Still, it's the most refreashing new idea I've seen in years.

Kudos.

LEGALBEGAL

Tuesday, January 7, 2003 12:46 AM

The NWA wrestling company produces a show this way. It airs every week on payperview for 9 and some change dollars cheeper if you order a package of eps 4 of them I believe. It cost less. Just so you know direct TV airs other telivison shows this way and I think it will work for firefly.

SELNYC

Tuesday, January 7, 2003 1:06 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by CaptainMal:
It SEEMS to me that if such a thing were practical it would have already been done but let's just say theoretically that each EP cost 1.5 mil, and that the production and distribution cost (for the DVD's which I presume would be the prefered method of distrobution) was a genorus half mil.

That's 2 million per episode.

I think we may be forgetting the primary reason Joss moved Buffy from the WB to UPN. He wanted more money per episode -- not to line his own pockets (well, maybe a little, but I can't fault him -- he deserves it!), but to invest in the show's production values. The WB balked at paying $2 million an episode, as they'd been paying a million or less each to that point.

Firefly, right out of the gate, was obviously a much more expensive show to produce; just as an example, understand that the set containing the loading ramp on Serenity is ALWAYS in the studio -- they only make it look like its outside by using digital effects/ChromaKey technology. This is not cheap. If you own the 1st season of Buffy on DVD, you may have heard how Joss described their high school set as being one hallway in a constant state of redressing to show "other" parts of Sunnydale High.

Fox gave Joss something on the order of (I forget dyslexia combined with Alzheimers) whether it was $6 or $9 million JUST TO FILM A PILOT THEY DIDN'T SHOW until after Firefly was cancelled.

If this show costs less than $2 million an ep just in production costs, well, I'd be pretty surprised. And I can't help wondering if this was another factor in Fox's decision to cancel...

It was the best day ever!

LEGALBEGAL

Tuesday, January 7, 2003 3:09 PM

I dont think that a direct to DVD show will work but I know for a fact that a payperview show will work if everyone is willing to pay 5-8 dollars a week to watch firefly with out the commercials. After the first month or so you can take those numbers to advertisers and for a few they can play ads befor the show much like previews at the movies.

The other idea that I had is a bit more far fetched pay per view internet video. Built around a decent site like this one where advertiser could purchase space on say the message board or news links.

By the way if one quarter of the 4 million viewers payed 5 dollars and episode to see this show the Joss and company would make 5 million dollars subract the 2 million for production cost and they still have 3 million dollars not the best that they could do but definetly not the worst. Then add in advertiser money once people realize that we are watching the show and we will have enough money to kepp firefly alive in some form.

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