Netflix Suggestion: Buy More Copies of First Disc in Series

Robbie wrote in with a great suggestion for Netflix: "I have noticed that when trying to watch seasons of a television show that the first disc of a season has a very long wait, but the other discs in the season are readily available.  This is obviously because people want to watch it in order.  It would be great if someone could tell Netflix to buy more of disc 1 of a season.  I understand this may make the other discs less available because more people have seen the first one, but at least we got started!"

Are you waiting for the first disc in a series?

Comments

[chuck]

i would imagine that in most cases, they don't have the option of buying just the first disc of a series - very few shows are released as individual discs these days, almost everything is done as a box set containing the entire season.

[Andrew]

I also don't know how much of a difference it would make even if they could by more copies of the first disc. The reason that the latter discs are in stock is because the first disc acts as a bottleneck. If you buy more copies of just the first disc, then there will be less copies of the second disc to go to all the people who want it next. You've just moved the bottleneck back a step.

[John Dover]

I don't think the bottleneck works that way. I think a lot of people get the first disc and either don't get around to watching it for awhile or decide after an episode or two they don't like it. If they then stick with the show they tend to rush through them really quick. So I bet disc 1 of a series is rented and spends longer out at member's houses then the other discs do.

But yes, I can't imagine they are able to buy the discs individually.

[Seth]

Insightful comments.

But I do wish the @#$&*! customers who all have Glee Disc 1 would watch it or send it back!

[EvilDave]

I have taken to cancelling the first disc just so Netflix will ship disc 2, etc.

[eamon]

Actually lately I've been seeing bottle necks later in the series too and (IMO) this sucks a lot more then having to wait for disc 1. You switch over to something else and sometimes forget what was going on when you finally get back.

I think a lot of people are skipping disc 1, either that or Netflix is already doing what the OP suggests. It makes a certain amount of sense because some people are NEVER going to watch disc 2.

[Del]

All TV show series should be availiable on WI! That would put and end to it.

[Eddie]

My two cents: Yes! Give people what they want. Get More Disc 1 OR let us Stream TV Shows!

[Seth]

Send back Glee Disc 1 you @#$&*# $%@^&*(!

[Moom]

I strongly doubt that the studios, given their interest in having people purchase DVDs, would provide Netflix (or anyone) with stand-alone copies of multi-disc sets. I assume that Netflix is doing the best they can with the available supply. If you want to watch a TV series through Netflix it seems you have two choices -- get in their early and be one of the first people to get disc one of the set or be patient.

[chief61554]

Yes, I'm waiting for disc 1 of Ally McBeal season 2. Please send it back in. Thanks.

[Jan]

That's all fine and dandy..but then they have to buy more of the second, third and fourth because all those people that watch disc one..are going to eventually want to watch 2, and then that's going to have a long wait..

[c]

I think they should stock more copies of popular new releases as well. Warner deal aside, some of these "very long wait" times are ridiculous.

I know the prices of their plans are good, and, from their perspective, there's probably little to no cost benefit in overstocking a title that will quickly go out of high demand. But considering how well their business is doing, it's kind of ridiculous how long one has to wait to check out a popular new release.

[A Movie A Day (AMAD)]

Why not just have the first disc available for streaming, if it part of a season set.

That way, the people who are wanting to see the series will be able to see the first disc in the series, and still have a chance to get the rest of the discs in order.

And those who said to order more of the first disc in a season set, that only works if the disc is available as a single disc.

It usually is that way with anime titles, but some companies like Funimation are now releasing their materials as 2 or 3 disc season volumes, not as 4 or 5 episode single discs.

[corey3rd]

the bottleneck works best for the dvd company since there's a chance that a customer that's been waiting for a couple months to get disc one of Sons of Anarchy might see it on sale at a store and nab it instead of waiting. Sure the number of people doing that might be extremely small, but that would be more than if people got the 1st disc faster. That's how they get you

[RowdyReptile]

I used the hackingnetflix trick of returning a disc on Saturday to make sure I got Mad Men season 3 disc 1 yesterday when it was released. I've been throttled big time (Hurt Locker has been #1 in my queue for 10 weeks and still has a "long wait"!) so I definitely was glad to get out on the front edge of a popular show.

[longklaw]

I also doubt that they would buy the disc separately. When it comes to watching TV series via Netflix, I don't usually watch anything that's just come out.

[Dee]

I agree with most of the comments above, but thankfully I haven't had any issue with waiting for my shows. Good thing they are pretty non-recent.

My pet peeve is when Netflix has only certain seasons available for streaming. I could watch seasons 1, 3, 6, on DVD and 2, 4, and 5 streaming (this is just an fake example). I wish I could stream all seasons because sometimes you find you have plenty of time to watch some shows but I hate when I get to the end of the DVD and have to wait to finish up.

Just my two pennies.

[Matt]

I definitely think Netflix needs to look into this. I'm on the 3 at a time plan, and typically keep movies about a week. I've been waiting for the Wire Season 2 disc 1 for going on 3 months. It just hangs there forever as "long wait". I haven't had problems with other movies or tv series. When I finally called customer service, they explained they just don't have many copies due to loss and damage.

[Quiet Desperation]

I strongly doubt that the studios, given their interest in having people purchase DVDs,

I would buy a DVD now and then if, after loading the disc, the *FIRST* thing I see is the disc menu. Too many "that operation is not allowed here" messages for me. How many times do I need to sit through the Interpol warning. It just makes me copy the disc to disable the blocks.

Blu-Ray seems even worse. Amazing amounts of crap seems to happen before I see a menu, and that's in addition to the ads and warnings.

[vio]

Since when does Netflix buy each disc individually? I'm pretty sure they buy them in a set the way a consumer would in a store.

[Rob Molecule]

I've had Disc 1 of the 2nd season of Taxi sitting in my queue as a short wait for a couple of weeks now. There's no way this is in high demand.

[leonardodicrapio]

Glee Rocks!

[Paul ~ NY]

Farscape has had very long wait for the first two discs since the first day it was available. =/

[bill r.]

Great idea. But Netflix has made it pretty clear they don't care about new releases.

[Del]

@Paul ~ NY

Farscape seasons 1-3 are on WI, only season 4 and Peacekeeper Wars is on DVD only. I don't understand that one, season 4 is 8 years old and Peacekeeper wars is 6 years old. They all should be on WI.

[Slo]

Yea, Glee disk 1 took forever! good thing I saw it on TV so It was fine out of order.

[Snarkysmachine]

I really wish people would stop complaining about this issue. Netflix, it seems to me, really works best for someone who isn't interested in having the newest, shiniest release seconds after it leaves the factory. Go to Blockbuster if you want that. I left blockbuster because I wanted to see older - yet popular titles and TV Shows with longer runs that were unavailable for rental elsewhere.

[John]

I've been waiting for the first disc of Breaking Bad season 1 for months. Just stream the thing already!