I'm hoping you can help me with a bit of market research. I'm in discussion (with my Biteback Publishing hat on) with one of the major broadcasters about the feasibility of producing a 3 DVD box set of coverage of the election debates, election night and the coalition talks. The bulk of it would be election night itself.
Would you take part in this three question survey so I can ascertain the level of interest in this? As you can imagine, it's a not inconsiderable undertaking (as John Major might say) and I don't want to do it if no one's interested!
One of the questions is for you to suggest ideas for DVD extras which could be included on one of the discs.
Click HERE to take the survey
I suspect that it's going to be an anoraks collection item.
ReplyDeleteYou'll never get away with a 2nd print run that's for sure...
Marginal at best.
I don't think I want to relive the highs and lows - and I certainly do not want to watch Dimbleby doing the drama queen act again.
ReplyDeleteWhat the DVD would show, of course, is the naked bias of some broadcasters. Perhaps you should go ahead with the project if only to record that fact for posterity...
Might be of interest, but only if it's at a sensible price - max. £10 or so at retail.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you could take pre-orders to see how much interest there is and use that to work out the economics of an initial run plus spares for those who follow after.
One other thought - the idea of shipping data around on plastic discs (that being what a DVD is) is likely to look more and more out of date in our downloadable future!
As an historical archive, for schools, libraries, researchers and journalists it would be a valuable asset, but to individuals, it's an anorak purchase for obsessives and stalkers.
ReplyDeleteTaking a long view, the idea of someone being able to access, say, the Thatcher election of 1979, in dvd form, today, is compelling.
A DVD featuring the highs lows from all the televised general elections would be better. I'd like to see poor David Mellor's 1997 defeat when all the other candidates chanted "Out! Out! Out!" behind him. Not something you see on election night. Otherwise one for the anoraks.
ReplyDeletecan't honestly imagine I would sit through three DVDs worth - and even so, that wouldn't come close to comprehensive coverage, so it rather falls between two stools.
ReplyDeleteI'd be more interested in a single-disc "greatest hits" edition covering all the interesting bits (I would wear out the grooves showing Jacqui Smith's defeat :), and some interviews with main players done after the fact. That would be potentially interesting.
I'm interested in certain details that would be unlikely to be included. I would prefer the whole record to be readily available online so that people could dip into it according to their specific desires and requirements.
ReplyDeleteDon't want a secondary source telling whatever narrative the owners of material and/or the editors decided.
I am not going to take part in your survey and as a MRS member I'd strongly advise against taking any commercial decision on the basis of such an exercise! Just for fun!
I just finished taking the survey saying that I would definitely buy such a DVD set (although I questioned the price) then read some of the comments here.
ReplyDeleteYikes - I seem to be described, variously, as an obsessive, a stalker and an anorak!
Thanks guys, I love you to!
:-)
It'll all be YouTube'd anyway.
ReplyDeleteNo - I fail to see the charm and my 'team' won.
ReplyDeleteThe BBC cruise ship interviews are eminently missable.
There is no doubt it was a strange election - the first 2 results gave tory swings of 8 and 11 %; but the 3rd Sunderland seat only gave 4%
But I do not want to watch 6 hours of people not knowing what was going on.
Not one of your best ideas, Iain. Do you have DVDs of old West Ham football games? Do you watch them?
ReplyDeleteThere are enough horror films on the market.
ReplyDeleteMy idea for a DVD extra is an alternative "Director's Cut" ending with the Tories getting all their 116 target seats plus many more and Bercow losing to Farage. The out-takes of the Paxman-Dimbleby punch up, the hijack of the BBC Thames drinkboat by Kerry McCarthy and some of her Somali constituents (postal voters) and Emily Maitlis watching ITV to find out what was happening could also be added.
ReplyDeleteIt would almost certainly be outlawed under the Geneva Convention and the Human Rights Act.
ReplyDeleteVogon poetry readings and all that
You could have optional CGI special effects showing, for example, a green glow around Ed Balls and a 3-D positionable Emily Maitlis. I can see the potential.
ReplyDeletePlus a commentary track from Gordon Brown. :)
I think this would be an epic fail. Even if anyone did buy it, they would be too ashamed to admit it........
ReplyDeleteI suppose those DVDs would be more successful than sleeping pills !
ReplyDeleteDoesn't sound like a goer to me.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's a rights issue here, surely? Can't see the Beeb, ITV or Sky just handing over footage to then be put up for sale.
No but the CD of Maggie's speeches (that Jeremy Clarkson had in an episode of Top Gear) would be fun!
ReplyDeleteWe could lock all the BBC in a room and play it non stop to them.
There is no market for this.
ReplyDeleteAt absolute max - I could watch a half an hour TV program some 10-20 years after the election.
For example, I could watch 30-40 min highlights of '97 or '92 now - on youtube say, but I certainly wouldn't buy it...
I say that as an obsessive political geek, so I imagine more sane people would definitely not either.
surely those interested in this material will download it free from a torrent site such as http://thebox.bz
ReplyDelete??
Although I quite like the idea, having read other comments, I think there'd be a better market for a single DVD (plus a "free" bonus disc with a mixture of anoracky and light-hearted features) at around £12.99. If you find yourself a good editor this should be possible.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'm the kind of anorak who might buy the 3-disc completist version, I'm not sure how much of I'd want to watch. Debates 2 and 3 were mostly pretty dull, the first three hours of election night were very sparse, and a lot of the aftermath consisted of people droning on in a glasshouse on Parliament Square, party drowned out by helicopters buzzing overhead.
No - if we want it, we'll tape it from the Parliamant channel when they do one of the Election Day repeats.
ReplyDeleteThis self-confessed anorak would buy it if the election night coverage contained as many of the broadcast declarations as possible, especially if unadulterated by Dimbleby wittering.
ReplyDeleteBut it's difficult to see it making any money in the age of DVD recorder hard drives - where I have about sixteen hours coverage ready to split and put on blank DVDs.