AudioGo Going, Going, Gone?

[StCoop]

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.

 

[Pindar]

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.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I am curious as to the timing of this, as well. But how will this affect Big Finish?

 

[StCoop]

I am curious as to the timing of this, as well. But how will this affect Big Finish?

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.)

 

[diankra]

Their access to the 9th and 10th Doctors is subject to an ok from RTD.

 

[StCoop]

Their access to the 9th and 10th Doctors is subject to an ok from RTD.

Um, what? He doesn't own the characters. He doesn't even work for the BBC.

 

[diankra]

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.

 

[Nightowl1701]

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).

 

[Sindatur]

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).

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?)

 

[The Nth Doctor]

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.

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).

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?)

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.

 

[FreddyE]

How about BigFinish buying AudioGo? Wouldn´t that be a "best case" scenario?

 

[inflatabledalek]

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.

 

[FreddyE]

So basically AudioGo is probably going to become just a brand name of BBC Worldwide?

 

[StCoop]

How about BigFinish buying AudioGo? Wouldn´t that be a "best case" scenario?

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.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

So basically AudioGo is probably going to become just a brand name of BBC Worldwide?

"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.

 

[StCoop]

Well that's the end of that:

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/audiogo-files-administration.html

So I guess we'll have to hope that Big Finish will be allowed to sell the download version of the last part of Destiny.

 

[Pindar]

Well that's the end of that:

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/audiogo-files-administration.html

So I guess we'll have to hope that Big Finish will be allowed to sell the download version of the last part of Destiny.

Crazy. A real shame for the people losing their jobs, but how could you not make money with the BBC catalogue at your disposal.

 

[FreddyE]

Crazy. A real shame for the people losing their jobs, but how could you not make money with the BBC catalogue at your disposal.

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

 

[StCoop]

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.)

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

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...