It is very rare to find any info on DVD sales, as figures seem to be better guarded than any Pentagon secrets.

This chart is particularly interesting for those of us who dream of the possibility of shows going direct to DVD or legal download – and possibly to TV afterwards, not the other way round. Imagine, no Fox and WB to screw things up! We are still somewhat ahead of ourselves on this, but at some (hopefully near) point in the future, could this be a way back for Joss to make a new series or release TV type smaller films? Provided he does want to of course.

Worth mentioning that these figures probably include sales from US internet sites as well as shops. DVD Exclusive tends to list sales from Amazon.com in their other charts, but I cannot be sure of this. Also these are not the total end figures, as this chart only shows the top 15. What I am trying to say is that when a DVD falls out of the current monthly top 15, it may still be selling and adding revenue – just not enough to get back into the top sellers.

However, please do remember that some of this money of course will go to retailers, production costs etc.

nb I have been waiting for them to update the chart with the May figures but nothing is happening so I thought I post it up anyhow. Knowing my luck, they’ll change it tomorrow.

On the plus side also worth pointing out that this chart does NOT show revenue from sales outside the US – so actual revenue will be a fair bit higher.

I don’t care what anybody says, I still maintain that someone like Joss with an established, worldwide fanbase could pull a new business model off, one that circumvents TV. And if I say it 3 times per day out loud, this dream will move from wishful thinking to reality. (Note to self, people somehow seem to think it’s weird when you talk to yourself. Don’t understand why.)

And yes – Charmed outselling Angel. What can one say, great writing pfft, sex sells. David and James should have taken their shirts off a good deal more. This kind of thing should be thoroughly encouraged for any future projects :)

miranda | May 17, 16:12 CET

Miranda - Those are all Year to date numbers - which is how much sales they made that year - which typically is in relation to their release date on DVD. So the over all DVD sales figures would still be higher if you took in the total release run time. Also looking at revenue may not factor in the retail mark-up because it varies so much and may only be based on their cost.

You also have to think that if a DVD release makes $20 Million in a year, most of that is profit for the studio, since the cost of the episodes are covered by syndication and network sales to begin with. Most studios claim if they sell over 500,000 units it's profitable for them - at $30 (on avg) cost a unit that's 15 million dollars. With series bringing more than that, it seems even more feesable than before that DVD will be the way to go. I think the networks are waiting to see how many people will by the first season of this past years new shows and I see in the not to distant future if not DVD only shows, then more studios will have shows working in tandum like Family Guy. Where you will have it on TV, maybe on more than one network but then you will also release a few episodes of special episodes to DVD while they are airing. We may end up with 14 episode TV seasons and then a 6 episode DVD season as a companion to the series on TV.

[ edited by RavenU on 2005-05-17 14:48 ]

RavenU | May 17, 16:34 CET

If they did an extention to the BTVS fandom (Spike, Ripper) movie and didn't play it on TV/theater but sent it direct to DVD, I would think it wouldn't be farfetched to imagine it would be the number one seller of the year. You'd have to buy it to see it.

Hey, it's a thought.

[ edited by twiggy on 2005-05-17 15:18 ]

twiggy | May 17, 17:16 CET

To be fair, Charmed Season 1 outselling Angel Season 5 isn't that big of a deal. I would bet that DVD sales of TV shows go incrementally down season by season, as most likely only hard core fans buy EVERY season while those who simply want to get to know a show or LIKE it will buy just that first season.

Thank you so much for this website -- you're absolutely right about it being really hard to find this type of information.

brother_grady | May 17, 17:23 CET

Whats more interesting is I believe those numbers are from retail numbers, buying from shops, I believe those numbers ignore internet purchases, and how many big dvd sites like dvd empire etc, how much are they selling, and how much is fox getting from them etc, the profits are bigger then the chart there, thats for sure.

SeanValen | May 17, 19:26 CET

It's interesting, and sad, that Buffy Season 7 never made their bestselling list at all. As for sex selling Charmed, I know it's true (what else could it be?) - but I just don't get it. Fully clothed, the Buffyverse women are far sexier than the Halliwhoever sisters in their skimpies.

jaynelovesvera | May 17, 20:59 CET

Many WHEDON fans had mixed feelings about Buffy Season 7, so it makes sense for overall sales to be less when those depend on the general public as well.

brother_grady | May 17, 22:19 CET

I was so surprised to hear that season 7 isn't a favorite among fans. I thought it was one of the best and I'm usually in agreement with this verse, for example I think 3 and 5 are the strongest seasons.

charisma | May 18, 00:22 CET

I would have thought that the newer seasons had some advantages over older seasons though. For example, over time usually more people are becoming aware of the program and the established fan base is usually getting bigger rather than smaller. Also, they tend to have better special effects and action than earlier seasons, which a lot of viewers find more important than the story or acting, although even creatively shows tend to become better over the years as the cast becomes stronger and more experienced and stories have more time to develop, and in the case of Buffy, the production values rise.

I know that not everyone was a fan of seasons six and seven, but at the time whenever season five came out on DVD, you would think it had several artistic and technological advantages over season one.

Also, I am aware that the fan base is probably dwindling slowly or staying constant rather than getting bigger, but I mean whilst Buffy and Angel were on, the fanbase slowly grew over the years as the characters became more iconic and familiar.

I also find it incredibly annoying that more people bought Charmed than season five of Angel. I mean any Joss production is superior in many ways- acting, direction, story, intelligence, even the special effects and action are way better, and in my opinion the cast are way more attractive. However, Charmed does make more liberal use of skimpy costumes.

Razor | May 18, 00:35 CET

I find it incredibly, well, amusing that Friends Season Nine(!)has sold more than twice as many copies as Angel S5. Do people really sit and rewatch that show (perhaps to catch the more nuanced stuff they missed the first time)? And isn't it on, like, all the time in reruns?

Ah, Friends-bashing never gets old . . . :)

SoddingNancyTribe | May 18, 00:46 CET

I'm just glad Angel is doing better than Miami Vice. (suddenly I have a urge to push up my jacket sleeves)

lycoming | May 18, 00:58 CET

With the Serenity trailer and it's "From the creator of Buffy and Angel" headline I would hope many people that do see the movie, and love it, will then think "Hey, maybe I should give that show a chance despite the silly name"

A bit of cross promotion later in the year could do Serenity, Firefly AND BtVS and Ats wonders.

zz9 | May 18, 01:29 CET

About S7, in retrospect it was kinda like ROTJ. On the one hand it gave us closure, but on the other hand, the Potentials were the Slayerverse equivalent of Ewoks. ;)

[ edited by kipron on 2005-05-18 01:52 ]

kipron | May 18, 03:52 CET

Oh come on - the Potentials weren't nearly as cute as the Ewoks, they wouldn't make good stuff animals :)

Passion | May 18, 04:20 CET

I keep hearing this factoid that the Chapelle Show Season 1 DVD is the best-selling teevee DVD ever, which sounds nifty but seems completely unbelievable. Chapelle sell more than Friends? More than the The Simpons? Pfft. And Chapelle's Show isn't even on this list! I keep waiting for someone to point to some numbers, but I guess they're just too hard to find.

wren | May 18, 07:56 CET

wren, the Chapelle show is on the 12/26/04 chart at 43.6 million. It's not on the chart the link goes straight to because it was released in '04.

jaynelovesvera | May 18, 13:31 CET

I never found the Potentials that annoying. I thought they added a whole new dimension to the slayer mythology that hadn't been explored before. And generally not all of them were annoying. I liked Rhona at times but I felt her and Kennedy were constantly out to criticise Buffy and complain. But it's understanable when they were so frightened and confused.

I didn't like Molly's accent though. A small part of me thanked Caleb for disaptching with her so I wouldn't have to hear it again.

Razor | May 20, 01:00 CET