I think they really decide based on churn. What brings viewers in.
Could well be their MO. The last big streamers have the market pretty well divvied up between them, and they may just be fighting over the viewers that are still on the fence? Like you say, your household still subscribe.
But let’s say the BBC got smart and offered up all of Doctor Who, from 1963 to now. Boom, 41 seasons plus a couple years’ specials available on one platform*. Especially now that the audience has to wait a few years for new material, wouldn’t that be enough to attract Netflix — activating a few dormant subscriptions, pulling in the fanbase, including new viewers who need to see what the fuzz is about?
That’s very much fantasy football, of course, but if the issue for the BBC is to generate interest in the show, among viewers and streaming partners, making the whole of it available in one place seems the way to go.
* Let’s ignore for now what a legal headache it would be clearing all those classic serial rights from writers’ estates. Also, that nuWho series 1-13 is now with AMC+ in North America, and the two most recent seasons are still on Disney+.
At least the best of Dr Who (or nuWho) is on Blu-ray and DVD. Since I really only care about Nine, Ten, and Eleven, I can just collect those episodes on disc and just have them.
While I don’t much like the “nu” prefix (I know it means “new” but I feel like it’s a bit derogatory; we saw this 25 years ago with “nu-metal”), I guess it’s accurate. Pre-Nine (or Eight, since he was just in the TV movie), or Classic Who, is kind of a different product. I ask my mother and other Boomers about Dr Who, and they say it’s a silly programme they could never get into, but they like modern drama/action stuff, and I try to recommend Dr Who (or nuWho if you prefer that term) and they won’t even give it a chance. Like, “just watch Blink,” it’s a Doctor-lite episode and has excellent tension and scares, or something like Midnight (another Ten story) or my personal favourite, The Girl in the Fireplace. Dr Who/nuWho isn’t all at the level of those three, but enough of it is that it keeps you watching.
I just wish they took Torchwood a bit more seriously. R-rated Whoniverse stuff was awesome, but it didn’t do much. The first two series were spectacular, if a bit cheesy. Third and fourth, a bit less so. Then Barrowman went and got himself canceled and now he’s past his prime. But his Harkness character was at his best alongside Ten. Of course, those looking for more David Tennant can just watch Broadchurch… or Good Omens.
Ha, I do feel the same way about the “nuWho” handle, and for the same reason. It’s hard not to think of Limp Bizkit 😰 We sort of needed a way to separate the revived show from the original run, though, and this unfortunate term won out.
But then, Who is often goofy. I can understand why some people are turned off by that initially. We forget sometimes that it’s a family show, or more to the point, started as a children’s show that adults should also be able to sit through. But it always had way more range then that, in part because of the silliness. Dark episodes hit harder when the Doctor was fighting farting aliens the week before. Then all of a sudden they’re punching their way through a diamond wall over the course of billions of years.
It’s an acquired taste, for sure, and not for everybody. But it has to be out there for people to watch it and at least try it on for size.
So I stand by the idea that all 60+ years of Doctor Who on one platform would be good for both the show, the streamer, and the audience (outside of the UK). Having a back catalogue like that visible and accessible to a big swathe of the public (depending on where it would land) could keep it relevant while there is now new episodes made. Certainly more so than physical media.
Could well be their MO. The last big streamers have the market pretty well divvied up between them, and they may just be fighting over the viewers that are still on the fence? Like you say, your household still subscribe.
But let’s say the BBC got smart and offered up all of Doctor Who, from 1963 to now. Boom, 41 seasons plus a couple years’ specials available on one platform*. Especially now that the audience has to wait a few years for new material, wouldn’t that be enough to attract Netflix — activating a few dormant subscriptions, pulling in the fanbase, including new viewers who need to see what the fuzz is about?
That’s very much fantasy football, of course, but if the issue for the BBC is to generate interest in the show, among viewers and streaming partners, making the whole of it available in one place seems the way to go.
* Let’s ignore for now what a legal headache it would be clearing all those classic serial rights from writers’ estates. Also, that nuWho series 1-13 is now with AMC+ in North America, and the two most recent seasons are still on Disney+.
At least the best of Dr Who (or nuWho) is on Blu-ray and DVD. Since I really only care about Nine, Ten, and Eleven, I can just collect those episodes on disc and just have them.
While I don’t much like the “nu” prefix (I know it means “new” but I feel like it’s a bit derogatory; we saw this 25 years ago with “nu-metal”), I guess it’s accurate. Pre-Nine (or Eight, since he was just in the TV movie), or Classic Who, is kind of a different product. I ask my mother and other Boomers about Dr Who, and they say it’s a silly programme they could never get into, but they like modern drama/action stuff, and I try to recommend Dr Who (or nuWho if you prefer that term) and they won’t even give it a chance. Like, “just watch Blink,” it’s a Doctor-lite episode and has excellent tension and scares, or something like Midnight (another Ten story) or my personal favourite, The Girl in the Fireplace. Dr Who/nuWho isn’t all at the level of those three, but enough of it is that it keeps you watching.
I just wish they took Torchwood a bit more seriously. R-rated Whoniverse stuff was awesome, but it didn’t do much. The first two series were spectacular, if a bit cheesy. Third and fourth, a bit less so. Then Barrowman went and got himself canceled and now he’s past his prime. But his Harkness character was at his best alongside Ten. Of course, those looking for more David Tennant can just watch Broadchurch… or Good Omens.
Ha, I do feel the same way about the “nuWho” handle, and for the same reason. It’s hard not to think of Limp Bizkit 😰 We sort of needed a way to separate the revived show from the original run, though, and this unfortunate term won out.
But then, Who is often goofy. I can understand why some people are turned off by that initially. We forget sometimes that it’s a family show, or more to the point, started as a children’s show that adults should also be able to sit through. But it always had way more range then that, in part because of the silliness. Dark episodes hit harder when the Doctor was fighting farting aliens the week before. Then all of a sudden they’re punching their way through a diamond wall over the course of billions of years.
It’s an acquired taste, for sure, and not for everybody. But it has to be out there for people to watch it and at least try it on for size.
So I stand by the idea that all 60+ years of Doctor Who on one platform would be good for both the show, the streamer, and the audience (outside of the UK). Having a back catalogue like that visible and accessible to a big swathe of the public (depending on where it would land) could keep it relevant while there is now new episodes made. Certainly more so than physical media.