Interesting article on how some TV series are unlikely to make it to DVD … because of the cost of relicensing the music that was originally used for it.
WKRP in Cincinnati was one of the most popular television shows of the late ’70s and early ’80s, but it is unlikely ever to be released on DVD because of high music-licensing costs.
The show, which centered on a fledging radio station with a nerdy news director and wild disc jockeys, had a lively soundtrack, playing tunes from rock ‘n’ rollers like Ted Nugent, Foreigner, Elton John and the Eagles.
For many TV shows, costs to license the original music for DVD are prohibitively high, so rights owners replace the music with cheaper tunes, much to the irritation of avid fans. And some shows, like WKRP, which is full of music, will probably never make it to DVD because of high licensing costs.
“The indication from the studios is that we may never see (WKRP in Cincinnati) because of all the music that would have to be licensed,” said David Lambert, news director of TVShowsOnDVD.com, a clearinghouse of information on TV shows released on DVD. “As the DJ spins the record as he’s talking to Loni Anderson, if there is music playing even for a couple of seconds, then the people producing the DVDs would have to license it.”
The dramatic (and welcome) increase in releasing TV shows to DVD has made this a much more visible issue.
The original theme song for the show Married … With Children — “Love and Marriage” sung by Frank Sinatra — was replaced on the third-season DVD. Fans also complained when the song “Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues was missing from a critical scene in the Wiseguy DVD set. The second-season DVD sets of Quantum Leap and Northern Exposure both contain noticeable music replacements. And DVD distributors don’t always reveal on the box cover that music has been replaced, either.
Only selected episodes from the first season of Ally McBeal have been released in the United States because of the high cost of music licensing. But in the United Kingdom, where different licensing deals have been struck, viewers can order all five seasons of the show.
Ultimately, the music studios are going to need to make relicensing costs a lot more reasonable for this stuff. If they don’t, TV producers will, looking forward toward DVD sales, simply not use “real” music. Which would be a loss for everyone.