AudioGo Going, Going, Gone?

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by StCoop, Oct 22, 2013.

  1. StCoop

    StCoop Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2006
    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    http://www.thebookseller.com/news/audiogo-suspends-business-operations.html

    Could they not have waited until the last part of 'Destiny Of The Doctor' came out?

    I hope we'll still be able to buy a digital version or I've wasted a lot of money this year.

    EDIT: Bugger. Just remembered that Big Finish's DW license actually comes as a sub-license of AudioGO's rights to release DW on audio these days. I'm starting to have horrible visions of Light at The End not getting released until long after the Anniversary has come and gone.
     
  2. Pindar

    Pindar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2001
    Location:
    NCC - 1031
    Cock and balls, I got the first 10 parts.

    If amazon could snap it up it wouldn't hurt their audio book arm.

    The BBC would do well to buy it back.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2013
  3. Emperor-Tiberius

    Emperor-Tiberius Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2005
    Location:
    Kavala, Greece
    I am curious as to the timing of this, as well. But how will this affect Big Finish?
     
  4. StCoop

    StCoop Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2006
    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    If someone buys AudioGO then they'll carry on with their current contract, which goes to 2016. After that it's possible that the new owners might decide they can make more money from producing all DW audio themselves.

    If nobody buys them (unlikely) they can go back to the BBC and negotiate a new contract directly, which might actually be better if they can finally get New Series rights thrown in. (As they pointed out recently they're the only DW Licensee left who only get partial access to the series history.)
     
  5. diankra

    diankra Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2005
    Location:
    UK
    Their access to the 9th and 10th Doctors is subject to an ok from RTD.
     
  6. StCoop

    StCoop Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2006
    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    Um, what? He doesn't own the characters. He doesn't even work for the BBC.
     
  7. diankra

    diankra Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2005
    Location:
    UK
    It's in his freelance contract as showrunner... he has control over his additions to the concept, including his two incarnations.

    It's not a major issue: he's always said that he'd be happy for Big Finish to use them once he'd left, and their onscreen era was over, but he does have to give his OK for Big Finish to get the licence to use the 9th and 10th Doctors.
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2013
  8. Nightowl1701

    Nightowl1701 Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2011
    Location:
    Orlando, FL
    You might as well say just 10th Doctor there, since Eccleston won't return in any form and they're wrapping up the Companion Chronicles series next year (meaning no Rose/Jack narrated stories, the only other way you could present Nine on audio).
     
  9. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2011
    Location:
    Sacramento, CA
    Actually (Don't know if he was joking, but) Eccelston did say something like one day he'd likely do Audios (Maybe he said Those Radio things?)
     
  10. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2000
    Location:
    Lost in a temporal and spatial anomaly
    Terrible news, but hopefully it won't have much ramifications. I haven't even gotten to the Destiny of the Doctor series yet (busy with other Big Finish stories right now), but I believe Big Finish sells them on their site.

    Yeah, he said "those radio things." My impression from the interview is that he has a high regard for the audio drama format. But whether or not he'll reprise The Ninth Doctor in that form? Who knows.
     
  11. FreddyE

    FreddyE Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2009
    How about BigFinish buying AudioGo? Wouldn´t that be a "best case" scenario?
     
  12. inflatabledalek

    inflatabledalek Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2011
    Though I'm sure Big Finish would love to take on the Who stuff, AudioGo also includes all the BBC's radio output (amongst a lot of other stuff), that might be a bit too big for them to take on.

    I can see a 2Entertain situation happening when BBC Worldwide just absorbs the failed company back into itself (which is a win for them as they no longer have to split profits with a partner).

    This situation does suggest there was some chronic mismangement going on at AudioGo- They had access to virtually the complete archive of the world's most famous producer of audio entertainment, to bugger up that up takes some real skill.

    In terms of possible Big Finish impact... aren't AudioGo involved in the approval process for their stories (to all intents and purposes acting as an intermediary between BF and Cardiff)? If that's the case, and this situation takes a while to resolve, that could create a bottleneck in getting forthcoming BF scripts into production.

    Mind, the beeb aren't going to be any keener to lose money than BF are so I'm sure any difficulties are going to be sorted out quickly.
     
  13. FreddyE

    FreddyE Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2009
    So basically AudioGo is probably going to become just a brand name of BBC Worldwide?
     
  14. StCoop

    StCoop Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2006
    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    Big Finish barely make enough money to keep themselves as a going concern. It's why I'll always drop them an email if I ever come across any illegal downloads of their releases.

    AudioGO paid something like £15M for BBC Worldwide. BF's net worth isn't even 1% of that.
     
  15. Andrew_Kearley

    Andrew_Kearley Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2007
    Location:
    Moonbase Alpha
    "Why not? After all, that's how it all started!"

    That would be the best thing, really. They should never have sold it off in the first place. It's like the 2Entertain debacle all over again.
     
  16. StCoop

    StCoop Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2006
    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
  17. Pindar

    Pindar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2001
    Location:
    NCC - 1031
    Crazy. A real shame for the people losing their jobs, but how could you not make money with the BBC catalogue at your disposal.
     
  18. FreddyE

    FreddyE Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2009

    Missmanagement etc. can do a lot of damage I guess.
     
  19. StCoop

    StCoop Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2006
    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    I suppose the one positive that could come out of this situation is that BF will end up with the entire audio license, rather then it being split in two and we'll finally get some New Series audios. (Or 10th Doctor audios, since Eccleston won't and Smith will probably want a few years off before coming back again.)
     
  20. Emperor-Tiberius

    Emperor-Tiberius Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2005
    Location:
    Kavala, Greece
    I'd really like to have more Tenth Doctor audios, though the 9th audios would be even more preferable - but, BF won't get to have anyone else for the part, so...