North America floodgates opening for audios?

[23skidoo]

Something I've noticed over the last few weeks is there's a noticeable increase in the availability of Doctor Who and Torchwood audios at the retail level here in Canada, as well as in the US. Of course there's been Amazon all along, as well as specialty shops like comic book stores. But I mean it's only been recently that I've started to see things like Pest Control, Hornets Nest and Lost Souls -- and a very reasonably priced 3-CD set of the Torchwood radio dramas from last year -- showing up at Indigo and Chapters (Canada's equivalent of Barnes' & Noble).

And now, apparently, on Tuesday a number of other audios are receiving North American release, including several audio books from Target novelisations, and the latest David Tennant DW audio, The Last Voyage.

No signs of the Big Finish Doctor Who material -- but I am now starting to see BF dramas based on Stargate turning up, again at retail outlets that before never carried them.

At first I thought maybe a fan had gotten put in charge of ordering, but I'm seeing North American release dates being announced now -- and that hasn't happened very often before.

I wonder if some sort of floodgate has opened up. And if Big Finish releases from other franchises are starting to trickle across the pond, maybe DWs will follow.

It's not as huge a deal as it might have been in the pre-Amazon days. But I still think it's great to see these releases turning up in "regular" retail. I've already picked up Day of the Troll and the Nemonite Invasion, as well as that Torchwood radio set and a couple other exclusive-to-audio TW stories. Yeah, I could have saved a few bucks on each of them ordering online, but hell - I say we should be encouraging stores to bring more of this sort of thing in, and they won't if it doesn't sell. Besides, I wanted to hear Eve Myles' voice coming across my car speakers on the way home from the bookstore!

Alex

 

[Peak]

At least one of the big US wholesalers do have the BBC-stuff + the Stargate-audios.

I think that's the reason. They don't have BF:s other stuff, what I've seen, though.

 

[23skidoo]

At least one of the big US wholesalers do have the BBC-stuff + the Stargate-audios.

I think that's the reason. They don't have BF:s other stuff, what I've seen, though.

Which is cool, definitely. I wonder if this is a recent development. I'm reminded of back in the late 90s when stores (at least in Canada) were unable to stock any of the BBC Books Doctor Who novels because no distributor picked them up. After about a year, bang, suddenly places like Chapters and independents were flooded with them because BBC Books finally made a deal with somebody.

And back then we didn't have the Amazon option.

Alex

 

[Peak]

I do think it's quite recent. The publishers for the Target audio books are designated as: "BBC Audiobooks America". They don't have everything (yet?), but most of the Doctor Who-audio books are there.

http://www.bbcaudiobooksamerica.com/Trade/TradeHome/tabid/60/Default.aspx

 

[Stevil2001]

Which is cool, definitely. I wonder if this is a recent development. I'm reminded of back in the late 90s when stores (at least in Canada) were unable to stock any of the BBC Books Doctor Who novels because no distributor picked them up. After about a year, bang, suddenly places like Chapters and independents were flooded with them because BBC Books finally made a deal with somebody.

And back then we didn't have the Amazon option.

I think this actually happened a little later-- it was post-2001, because I was a Doctor Who fan when it transpired. And Amazon certainly existed then, but it didn't solve the problem, as there was no distributor getting the books to Amazon US.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

And Amazon certainly existed then, but it didn't solve the problem, as there was no distributor getting the books to Amazon US.

Then just order from Amazon.co.uk.

 

[23skidoo]

And Amazon certainly existed then, but it didn't solve the problem, as there was no distributor getting the books to Amazon US.

Then just order from Amazon.co.uk.

Actually I don't believe that was an option 10 years ago (remember we're talking about past-tense). I clearly recall attempting to order either a book or a CD from Amazon.co.uk back around that time and getting a message indicating they would not ship such an item to Canada. I don't remember when that changed -- I didn't try again until about 2006 or 2007, at which point I had no trouble (not even issues with customs duties, which I found odd but didn't complain about).

Also, the exchange rates were pretty horrendous back then. Today (speaking only for Canada) the pound is worth about $1.75 Cdn. Back in 2001? More like $2.50 -- in fact it was a major deal-breaker that scuttled a trip to the UK I was thinking of doing back then.

Also, back in 2001, the idea of buying things online wasn't as much an automatic response as it is now. Don't you remember that back in the day people were going out and getting credit cards specifically for online purchases because they were so paranoid about their credit card numbers being stolen? Even today there are people who still do it. I considered going that route (I never really got into the online ordering thing bigtime till about 2002-2003) until my credit card company introduced what was basically "no fault insurance" meaning if someone started using my card for unauthorized purchases in, say, Kalamazoo I wasn't liable for them. At that point I felt comfortable enough to begin ordering online (and even to this day I only do so from reputable companies like Amazon).

It's amazing to consider from a 2010 perspective how much "in the wilderness" we were with regards to the Internet. Heck, in 2001 my city had only had widespread Internet service for about 3-4 years. And no one had even heard of wi-fi!

Alex

 

[Stevil2001]

And Amazon certainly existed then, but it didn't solve the problem, as there was no distributor getting the books to Amazon US.

Then just order from Amazon.co.uk.

That would have been the perfect solution had I been blessed with a large disposable income to use on the shipping.