2012-07-24

Season 3 DVD Release

News regarding season 3 release (source: Falcon Crest Fanclub):

The WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION asks for some more patience concerning the season 3 release date. The season will definitely be released as an MOD edition in the USA. Due to the extensive picture remastering, an exact release date cannot be given at this time.
In the meantime, however, WARNER BROS. offers many season 3 episodes on Amazon Instant Video in their original U.S. version. These videos are not remastered and can be downloaded only by people using a U.S. IP address and with a U.S. residence and credit card.

With WARNER HOME VIDEO's current product policy for older shows and due to unsatisfactory sales of seasons 1 and 2 in total, a season 3 box release with regularly pressed discs has become rather unlikely on the German speaking market unfortunately. However, according to WHV Marketing Director KAI UWE MARNER (06/25/2012), season 3 is likely to be released as an MOD edition (manufactured on demand - burnt discs); this seems also possible for later seasons. In a conversation with DFCF President THOMAS J. PUCHER, the Marketing Director said that, compared to an MOD edition in the USA, which includes the original audio only, an MOD edition in the German speaking market is much more difficult from a technical point of view as the current MOD versions are only compatible with the DVD-5 format, which is not suitable for a second audio layer and, hence, would only allow for the German audio to be put on. The release will make sense only as soon as an MOD edition compatible with the DVD-9 format can be produced.
This means for the German speaking market:
  • Season 3 will not be released before it is released in the USA.
    The DFCF welcomes this decision in the interest of remastered picture quality, which the German speaking market will profit from also.
  • Waiting for the technical improvements to create a DVD-9 compatible MOD edition will enable the MOD edition to be fully equipped with both German and English audio layers.
    The DFCF informed WHV that, in the interest of choosing between the German dubbing and the original English audio, further delays are not welcome, but acceptable. The DFCF emphasized the importance of both audio layers for the markets in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
  • The MOD release will result in a higher price per box compared to "usual" retail sales since each DVD box will be individually manufactured for a very limited target group.

Not the news we hoped for but anyway: It's coming. We just have to be patient. I'll let you know as soon as more news are available.

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