Tue 22 Sep 2009
SUPERNATURAL Is A HIT… on DVD. (Or Another Reason Dawn Ostroff Is An Idiot)
Posted by Nick C under SUPERNATURAL, The CW
[14] Comments
The top DVD in the world right now for the SCI-FI genre is TRUE BLOOD, and there is no denying that. There is also no denying that Season 3 of HEROES is the 2nd most popular SCI-FI series on DVD right now. However, coming in at number 3 is SUPERNATURAL which is having a better year in DVD than anything on The CW.
That’s right the brothers Winchester have outsold Clark Kent. They’ve outsold FRINGE (massively). They’ve done the unthinkable in my mind. I was thinking they’d get a small spike in DVD sales, but the show has seen a large spike, while SMALLVILLE saw a dip. SMALLVILLE has always been worth 500k in DVDs per year, and it looks like just over 400k might be its peak point. SUPERNATURAL on the other hand may just hit 450k in sales.
Lets look at The CW and their prized possessions: GOSSIP GIRL and ONE TREE HILL. OTH is outselling GG and is likely to hit 200k units moved, while GG will be lucky to get to 190k. SUPERNATURAL sold more in its first week than OTH and GG are estimated to sell this year. Even when the holiday sales numbers spike their sales, SUPERNATURAL will be gliding towards 450k, while the other two shows are hopeful for 200k.
When you look at the Blu-Ray sales things are a little different. SMALLVILLE looks likely to hit around 50k units sold by years end, while SUPERNATURAL is going to be lucky to hit 35k units sold. Compare that to DOLLHOUSE which is going to be lucky to hit 125k in DVD, but is looking like it will hit 25k in Blu-Ray.
So SUPERNATURAL is a hit on DVD, pulling ok numbers in Blu-Ray, and entirely kicking the ass of The CW’s “favorite shows,” and that my friends is just another mark against Ostroff. At this year’s major events to kick off the new season there were tons of “talent,” from GG, OTH, 90210, MELROSE PLACE, and THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE. SUPERNATURAL wasn’t even present. The big marketing push nationally once again left the Winchester boys behind.
The Late Great Kim Manners Giving Jensen Direction
What is sad is the fact that it’s one of the best shows ever on TV. For the genre it may well be the best show of its type of all time. It has none of the downward trending that THE X-FILES had. It’s coherent and the mythology is always forward moving (unlike FRINGE or even LOST). Sure, it’s on The Can’t Win Network, so it has trouble getting exposure.
However, in my mind if you flipped FRINGE and SUPERNATURAL to the other network we’d probably see the same overall type of numbers, except I believe FRINGE would do slightly worse on The CW, and SUPERNATURAL would do slightly better on FOX. Plus on FOX the show would be a hit, and the talent would be paraded around. Ok, maybe they’re glad they aren’t on FOX.
I love this post so much. Almost as much as I love Supernatural. It really is the little show that just keeps on trucking, despite everything against it (I think the budget right now is about the same as a school kid’s lunch money, right?) While I’ll happily admit season 1 was rough in places, it truly has developed into one of the best genre shows of the decade.
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Wicked sweet. Nice to hear some news about the boys. This show gets so little respect. Not only from it’s own network, but also from it’s peers. Just look at how the Emmys snubbed Kim Manners in the “In Memoriam” section of the program. Didn’t even get a mention. It sure is sad when good work gets so little appreciation.
I don’t know what went wrong with the Emmys’ “In Memoriam” section, but they also left out Andy Hallett, who did some great work as Lorne for 5 Seasons on Angel.
This article nails it, doesn’t it? To the point.
I totally agree with everything you said. Except for switching it to Fox… cause Fox has a history with canceling amazing genre shows (i.e. Firefly). But yeah, I agree with what you said. Supernatural is an amazing show, its sad it doesn’t get the exposure it deserves.
OMG this is so dead on..I sure the heck hope that they get the recognition they deserve soon.. GO SPN!!
The problem is that the CW (read: Ostroff) has refused to promote Supernatural in the past and are only covering it minimally now. This season has FINALLY seen more promotion but with the collective previews they have done featuring every show airing, Supernatural is literally a blip in between GG and Smallville etc. Not to mention the new “Dangerous” promo featuring only one still of a shadow of Sam Winchester’s face. Oh, and the fact that they are using old footage from I believe Season 2 of Jensen and Jared for the “new” promos that show during shows. That to me say that they (read: Ostroff) refuse to spend money on new and better promotion for the show that very well may be keeping their network afloat.
I have to say though that the DVD promos were plentiful but I assume that has more to do with Warner Brothers than the CW. Supernatural will continue to be the little show that could due to fan support and not Ostroff’s support. Her love of teen ‘Mary-Sues’, angst and addiction is nauseating.
Yes, but Dawn has about a month to save her job. I doubt she can.
I’m loving the darker Supernatural story this season!I doubt she can save her job even though she has a tiny new hit with The Vampire Diaries.
Thanks for the great post. Supernatural is the little show that could.. It seems the CW doesn’t have a clue about this show. But they don’t have to promote the show the fans are doing it for them..
it’s a super new kick the asses at all the others show and ostroff
Thank you for echoing what we die-hard fans have been saying for “years.” Supernatural is truly the Rodney Dangerfield of the CW – it gets no respect! Plus, when you consider the competition from more recognized shows (CSI and Gray’s Anatomy), SPN is doing one helluva job. Thanks for noticing!
I love this article! SUPERNATURAL is an amazing TV show. It’s so much better than anything else I’ve ever seen or expect to see. Yet it’s placed in an impossible slot, against CSI, GREY’s, OFFICE, and FRINGE, all of which have enormous audiences. The fact that SUPERNATURAL shows any audience at all (and the CW isn’t even available in all markets, which cuts down its audience even more), is a miracle, but rest assured that those fans ADORE this amazing program and show it the respect it deserves. The proof is in the pudding, but Dawn Ostroff seems to think that just renewing SUPERNATURAL is enough; advertising and promotion cannot be taken away from her darlings, 90210, GOSSIP GIRLS and MELROSE PLACE. When I think of SUPERNATURAL, whether it’s amongst the other shows on the CW or all the other programs on the other networks, I picture CW as one gorgeous, perfect red rose reaching for the sky–and all the others dead weeds–brown, ugly, worthy only of a trash compactor! Love, Robin
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