Film release dates

[PatTheRat]

What is the rationale for releasing a film on seperate dates in the USA and Europe. Also this applies to shows such as Lost, Sopranos etc. Is there something contractually that states that something made in the US must be released there first so they have exclusive right for a period of time. I've googled this subject and got nothing conclusive.

Especially in this day and age when piracy is ever increasing, wouldnt it make more sense to harmonise the release dates to cut out this element?

[tonymclark]

Once a show has a proven track run, some shows are shown closer here to their run in the States.
"Lost" is catching up a bit on the States.

There are lots of shows that are on American TV that we never get here, because they are no good.
But the programme buyers here have to find out how good ( or bad ) they are before buying or not.

So shows air on American TV before we get them here so that they have a proven track record ( unless the show is a co-production with a British broadcaster ).
The cost of a TV show is in relation to how popular it is, and it will go to the highest bidder.

I don't know if you remember in the 1980's ITV outbid the BBC for "Dallas", and were going to show the then new series before the BBC had finished showing the previous one.
However, you may also remember that the "Who shot JR ?" episode, was flown over to Britain, the day after it had aired in the States.

Programme schedules are drawn up in advance, and it is not always easy to rejig them at the drop of a hat.

Then there is Sky, who may buy the rights to a show which prevents a UK terrestrial station from showing a programme.
This was the case with "Star Trek - the Next Generation"and "The Simpsons", which BBC2 couldn't show for a given time after Sky had shown them.

[tonymclark]

Just re-read the first bit of you question.
With feature film it always used to be the availablity of film prints. They are very costly to produce, so we would get the prints after they were finished with in the States. Other countries would get them after Britain had finished with them.
Again, it is also to do with seeing how popular a film is.
Films with bad reviews have been known to have a title change in this country to hide it's identity.
The big block-busters with loads of money open a lot closer, like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.

[PatTheRat]

tony, thanks for your answers. I never really thought about the cost of the film prints being a factor.