Updated July 13, 2009: The New York Times has a piece where for the most part HBO looks to be attributing the successful DVD sales to the show doing very well on HBO when factoring the additional airings in. More info on that story here. Also, it seems that the DVD sales from The-Numbers.com (no relation) have been revised downward since I wrote the piece below, although the DVD has still sold amazingly well.
It’s Not TV, It’s GAY-ch-B-O?
I’m sure this is definitely a somewhat old theory and old thinking for anyone who began watching True Blood when it debuted last September. But I just started watching last week, so I was late to the game.
For weeks now, I’ve been marveling at the DVD sales for HBO’s True Blood. It’s sold more units and made more revenue than any other TV show this year. The accomplishment is pretty phenomenal, and I’m going to hit you with quite a few numbers to showcase just how phenomenal it is before furthering the speculation on why it has performed so phenomenally. If you’re not interested in the numeric comparisons, skip down to “Why is it selling so well?” section below.
A Comparative Look at Recent TV Show DVD Sales:
In six weeks of release it has sold almost 1.2 million units and grossed almost $41 million in revenue. It’s closest competition in 2009 so far this year comes from 24 season seven, which has also been available for six weeks but has sold less than 600,000 units and grossed just over $19 million. On a revenue basis, True Blood is the only DVD for the year in the top 20, top 30 or top 40 of DVD sales (it is currently 16th through the week ending June 28). 24 season seven is 46th by revenue.
To compare to some of its cable brethren, in four weeks of release Weeds season four (admittedly, not its best effort) had sold 432,000 DVDs and grossed almost $11 million.
Some will say it’s not fair to compare this year’s numbers because most of the 2008-2009 TV seasons have not yet been made available on DVD. That’s true, but it doesn’t matter. We can compare to the full calendar year of 2008 DVD sales when with about 17 weeks of sales (released on 9/2/08) The Office season four was the number one TV show DVD for the year selling 1.06 million units and grossing over $32 million. Because of the way we see data it’s not easy (or even usually possible) to see combined sales across multiple calendar years, but a show like Lost’s season four which went on sale with only a few weeks left in 2008 tracked closely with, but not quite as well as True Blood. After five weeks in release, Lost season four had sold over 976,000 units and grossed over $36 million. After five weeks, True Blood had sold almost 1.1 million DVDs and grossed almost $38 million in revenue.
True Blood is watched on TV by far fewer people than LOST or Grey’s Anatomy, but its DVD sales are better even than those shows and particularly a show like Lost is made for binging on by watching on DVD. You could argue that True Blood sold so well precisely because it’s on HBO, which is available in fewer than a third of the homes in the USA. But, it sells better – and much, much better – than other shows on HBO or on rival Showtime, too. True Blood even bested (particularly in unit sales) season 6, Part 2, the final season of The Sopranos. Though season six, part 1 of The Sopranos had more revenue with over $44 million in sales in 2007, True Blood sold 50% more units . 2007 also had with the best selling TV Show DVD for quite a while – Heroes season one, with almost 1.6 million units sold and $62 million in revenue in ~13 weeks of sales in 2007. I’m not sure it’s likely, but it’s certainly possible that True Blood season one overtakes Heroes season one.
For a lot of reasons, particularly reasons of exposure and awareness – True Blood is decidedly NOT the cultural phenomenon The Sopranos was – I have found its DVD sales numbers particularly eye popping. What was driving the success? Was it spillover from the success of Twilight? There’s certainly a case to be made for that. After just over three months in release, Twilight has sold almost 9 million units and grossed over $160 million. By any metric, it’s the top DVD of 2009 so far and nothing else is close. But these numbers were so eye-popping that when it crossed a million units in sales, I decided I had to watch it so I could at least find out what the fuss was about.
Why are True Blood DVD Sales selling so well?
I think a lot of gay people are buying the DVDs. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! The show uses fictional vampires as a metaphor for the way society treats gay people, at least here in the United States.
I was less than a few minutes into it – actually during the opening theme/credits sequence when I got my first idea the success was perhaps not driven by teenage Twilight loving girls. True Blood, uses the fictional liberation of vampires into society as a metaphor for how society deals with the gay community and it isn’t subtle at all. What I saw in the opening credits with the lit up sign displaying “God Hates Fangs”.
There are many overt references from vampires “coming out of the coffin” to the Bill Compton character pleading with his vampire brethren that if they flaunt their vampire ways, there will be a price to pay, to Vermont being the first state to legalize marriage between humans and vampires.
The show only has only one character in the ensemble who is gay, and there is more heterosexual sex on screen than probably any other show on television. But the plight of the fictional vampires is deliberately intended to closely resemble the real-life plight of gays in the United States. But it seems that True Blood creator Alan Ball isn’t just using the premise to mock right wing gay bashers even if there is plenty of that. The nature of the social commentary seems far broader. A particular focus seems to being paid to whether “mainstreaming” True Blood speak for Vampires acting in ways that fit in with everyone else is a better route to take than flamboyantly flying your vampire flag.
I suspect that a lot of the fuel driving DVD sales of True Blood is interest and strong word of mouth within the gay community. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! From talking to a few people and watching the show, it seems more likely to me than Twilight spillover – True Blood doesn’t seem like the type of show that would be heavily embraced by teenage girls. But it’s very anecdotal, and there is absolutely no data out there that can prove or disprove the theory. Whatever the reasons though, the DVD sales are a great success story for HBO. The ratings story isn’t so bad either.
Nielsen Ratings for True Blood
True Blood took an interesting path rarely seen – one of steadily increasing ratings. True Blood’s season one premiere last September bowed to 1.4 million viewers in its initial airing. The season one finale averaged 2.45 million in its initial airing. And tied in with very robust DVD sales, the season two premiere almost beat out the season one premiere by 100%! Some claimed the numbers were more robust because HBO was offering a freeview weekend over cable and satellite systems, but the results in weeks following the season two premiere indicate that isn’t the cause. Here’s a table of the ratings or at least viewer numbers for True Blood (several episodes from season one are missing):
| Season | Episode | Date | Viewers (Millions)* |
| 1 | Strange Love | 9/7/2008 | 1.4 |
| 1 | The First Taste | 9/14/2008 | 1.8 |
| 1 | Mine | 9/21/2008 | 1.8 |
| 1 | Escape From Dragon House | 9/28/2008 | 1.8 |
| 1 | Burning House of Love | 10/19/2008 | 2.1 |
| 1 | The Fourth Man in the Fire | 10/26/2008 | 2.1 |
| 1 | Plasir D’Amour | 11/2/2008 | 2.4 |
| 1 | To Love is to Bury | 11/16/2008 | 2.7 |
| 1 | You’ll Be the Death of Me | 11/23/2008 | 2.5 |
| 2 | Nothing But the Blood | 6/14/2009 | 3.7 |
| 2 | Keep This Party Going | 6/21/2009 | 3.4 |
| 2 | Scratches | 6/28/2009 | 3.7 |
*initial airing only
The numbers are nowhere near as good as the halcyon days of HBO when Sex and the City and The Sopranos were both airing. The Sopranos in its heyday routinely drew more than 10 million viewers and its season three premiere had over 13 million viewers. Still, True Blood is the best news HBO has had since The Sopranos faded to black.
But the numbers that matter to HBO aren’t Nielsen viewing numbers. The most important numbers are the number of paying subscribers HBO has and what kind of revenue that is netting them monthly. DVD sales, especially like those from True Blood are gravy. But still they are mostly a rounding error. HBO doesn’t suffer any recompense for DVD viewing or On Demand viewing either, and while I sometimes make fun of advertiser supported networks for bringing up multiple airings of shows, there’s no such stigma with HBO where there’s no advertising revenue impact as a result of DVR, and On Demand and there are no real opportunity costs issues with multiple airings. At least twice so far in season two, HBO has gone over 5 million viewers for True Blood when both Sunday night viewings were factored in.
All HBO needs to worry about is having happy customers, and if its customers are happy watching on their DVRs or On Demand, HBO is happy too. At any rate, having great DVD sales and increasing viewing for True Blood is a great outcome for HBO.
If Season Two’s DVD Sales Are As Good As Season One’s…
…even HBO will probably issue a press release. So far HBO has been notoriously Ladainian Tomlinson-esque and simply flipping the ball to the referee after scoring rather than going with the heavily choreographed end zone dances. There has been no chest thumping about the DVD sales and no chest thumping about the ratings improvements. It’s odd because most networks will chest thump over just about anything. They’re more like the wide receiver who goes into histrionics over catching a five yard pass.
In the PR world of television, even beating a rerun of Legally Blonde 2 is chest-thump worthy. HBO definitely gets the “TVbytheNumbers Ladainia Tomlinson Award”.
One thing even HBO can’t know for sure is how many people bought the DVDs and then subscribed to HBO just because of True Blood. So we can’t know how much, if any, the recent increases in viewership can be attributed to new people signing up for HBO just because of True Blood. But figure some of them are, and figure they won’t be as likely to buy the DVDs if they are already subscribing. Even maintaining season one DVD sales numbers with season two would be a great accomplishment, but increasing them would be a major league big deal. However interest in the show still seems to be growing. It will be interesting to see how things progress from here.
What do I think of the show?
What I think of the show doesn’t matter, but since someone is bound to ask… Vampires aren’t really my thing, so in that regard I definitely wound up liking it more than I thought I would. But mostly I thought season one was OK, but not great. There were many episodes (and not just the first four) where there were several minutes or more per episode where I just wasn’t engaged at all. But, I found the last few episodes of season one were much better.
To use HBO comparisons, I didn’t find it in the league of The Sopranos first few seasons (particularly the first two) or any season of The Wire. I also didn’t enjoy it as much as the first couple of seasons of Dexter though I’d say I probably did enjoy it about as much as the third season of Dexter. But again, I found that season one finished strong and that the last few episodes were much better, as was the season two premiere (as of this writing,) I have yet to watch the second and third episodes of season two). I’ll stick with it for a while. Partly because I enjoy it, but alsobecause there’s more interest in its ratings than any other premium cable show.
| Season | Episode | Date | Viewers (Millions)* |
| 1 | Strange Love | 9/7/2008 | 1.4 |
| 1 | The First Taste | 9/14/2008/ | 1.8 |
| 1 | Mine | 9/21/2008 | 1.8 |
| 1 | Escape From Dragon House | 9/28/2008 | 1.8 |
| 1 | Burning House of Love | 10/19/2008 | 2.1 |
| 1 | The Fourth Man in the Fire | 10/26/2008 | 2.1 |
| 1 | Plasir D’Amour | 11/2/2008 | 2.4 |
| 1 | To Love is to Bury | 11/16/2008 | 2.7 |
| 1 | You’ll Be the Death of Me | 11/23/2008 | 2.5 |
| 2 | Nothing But the Blood | 6/14/2009 | 3.7 |
| 2 | Keep This Party Going | 6/21/2009 | 3.4 |
| 2 | Scratches | 6/28/2009 | 3.7 |
This article is a joke. True Blood is doing so well because it’s a great show, not because the gays are pumping up the numbers.
First off, I’m a straight male, 21 years old. I haven’t touched anything involving Twilight. I don’t normally like the vampire genre (Buffy, Angel…).
So why am I watching , and hooked on True Blood? First it’s original, edgy, gory, and even funny at times. Another HUGE reason I watch is ANNA PAQUIN! I mean come on lol.
Seriously dude, you watch 1 episode of season 2, talk to a few people, and you make your “assessment” that gay people are boosting the sales. Get real man.
Great article! I just love numbers and sales news.
I would love to know what the ratings were for sex and the city and also how many units they sold on DVD.
I would also love to know in total, to date, how many units has LOST season 4 sold (I bought it on bly ray)?
It’s not just the gay angle, it’s the discrimination in general angle. By picking the south they also aim at the race issue. It’s a broad spectrum anti-discrimination manifest.
Adam, I watched every episode of season one, and one episode of season two (so I have watched 13 out of 15 episodes) and will watch the rest before the next episode airs on Sunday.
S., I agree in general that by its nature it pokes at all things discriminatory, but “I hate Fangs”, “out of the coffin” and “interspecies marriages legalized in Vermont” are clearly gay influenced.
I rarely buy TV series DVDs unless I like them and want the special features. But I bought True Blood Season 1 strictly from word of mouth. A coworker talked about it for weeks.
I’m curious, though. How did premium tv shows that went for the full gay monty like Queer as Folk and the L-Word do in DVD sales?
What?! The HBO series must be VERY different from the novels, all of which I’ve read. Never while reading them did I ever think any of it had anything to do with gay activism, campaigning against gay discrimination, or anything gay. There were gay characters but they weren’t held up as anything special. And the novels weren’t really about discrimination against even vampires but an exploration of their subculture and what it means to be an immortal. That and the romances the main character (a heterosexual horny telepathic white trash woman) got into. Sure the vampires are kind of discriminated against but they are powerful being that one just doesn’t have much sympathy for.
Anyone both read the novel series and see the HBO series? Is Robert correct about the HBO series?
Scott, to be clear, while the references are not subtle it’s not like there’s 25 minutes of them in every episode. But it’s definitely not zero minutes either. I’m guessing that Nan Flannagan of the American Vampire League isn’t in any of the novels…
I’ve read the books (before the series ever aired, with the exception of the most recent book or two) and think the parallel of vampire and gay discrimination is pretty darn clear, notably in the earliest books. Not so much in the more recent ones, which IMO aren’t as good, for numerous reasons. In particular, the book that goes into the Fellowship of the Sun organization is packed with references. Read that one, and sub in “anti-gay” for each time anything anti-vampire comes up. It’s all over the place.
But yes, the discimination issue is more direct on TV. I certainly wouldn’t call it the focus of the show, but it carries more weight than in the books.
The show in the first season (I haven’t yet seen the second) followed the same basic plot as the first book, but added material, gave some characters larger roles, and put a different spin on various elements.
“S., I agree in general that by its nature it pokes at all things discriminatory, but “I hate Fangs”, “out of the coffin” and “interspecies marriages legalized in Vermont” are clearly gay influenced.”
You can find just as many references to racial discrimination in the show as you can find sexual discrimination. Such as “Fangs can’t sit here” and places not allowing vampires to eat at their establishments. It mirrors all discrimination equally imo.
Due respect, Robert, but I really disagree about True Blood being a metaphor for the gay rights movement (and that being the driver of sales). So does Alan Ball, about which he says:
Still, said Ball, drawing a direct connection between the series’ vampires and the gay rights movement is “lazy”… and wrong. “Ultimately, if you latch onto that metaphor and become really serious about it, it would make the show was extremely homophobic,” he said. “Because vampires are dangerous, they kill, they’re amoral, a lot of them. I don’t think that’s what it is. I think that’s just a nice little detail in what is hopefully a big popcorn thrill ride. It’s a scary romance at the heart of it.”
(The rest of the article is here: http://www.televisionaryblog.com/2009/06/from-dusk-til-dawn-talking-with-alan.html)
Now, perhaps people are buying the DVDs in the mistaken belief that that’s what the show’s about…but I don’t believe that either.
Nor do I believe this has anything to do with Twilight. Excepting the term vampire and the inclusion of fangs, these two media products are nothing alike. Twilight vampires are sparkly and abstinent and thoroughly nonthreatening. True Blood vampires embody sex and death and will literally rip you into pieces and toss aside your body parts without a second thought. They’re two totally different markets with totally different representations of vampires with totally different underlying messages.
No, I think it’s ultimately about the cool factor…and that has to do with marketing. No one wants to be left out of the watercooler conversation, and problematic though it may be, it is one of those shows. People perceive it as something to talk about, because of the exclusivity HBO thing or Americans’ puritanical reaction to naked people having sex on screen or the fact that their friends are scandalized or whatever.
I’d be interested to know if HBO gets any extra subscribers out of this…not that they’ll ever tell us.
I’d have to agree that there is a heavy gay influence in regards to how the vampires are positioned in society inside the TB universe. It may touch upon other sorts of discrimination but I think that’s just minor bits to fill in the blanks as part of the ongoing story.
Cammy, due respect, but Alan Ball is talking out of both sides of his mouth just a little bit. He wants it both ways. He wants to be able to put all the references in, and he wants those references to be a “nice little detail”, but he doesn’t want anyone to latch onto that metaphor. I don’t think it’s the biggest part of the show by any means, but if he wanted to, the show could downplay a lot of the aspects more.
He threw the humans/vampires marriages legalized in Vermont in there on purpose though and if he truly wanted to downplay that kind of stuff, he wouldn’t put so much of it in the show. Still, I think those things do wind up just being nice little details that viewers enjoy.
I do not think people are buying the DVDs because that’s what they think the show is about. But I don’t think it’s a watercooler thing either. 2.45 million watched the season one finale. I don’t see how that by itself generates the the buzz that translates to huge DVD sales and an increase of over 50% in viewing from the S1 finale and the S2 premiere. I don’t get the sense that HBO spent a ton of money marketing the show either.
That’s not to say there isn’t any “it’s what the cool kids are watching” thing going or that there’s not some sort of growing sentiment along those lines, but that just doesn’t explain the phenomenal DVD sales for me.
Puritanical reactions by Americans over all the T&A and sex on screen doesn’t feel right to me spurring DVD sales either though I suppose all the T&A and sex itself very well could’ve. All I’ve seen is the impressive sales numbers, I haven’t seen any puritanical reaction to the show in any of the mainstream media I follow.
Well, there are two much more *obvious* reasons why DVD sales are good for this show: (1) Vampires are hot now; and (2) a limited number of people subscribe to HBO, so many people who *want* to see it have to wait for the DVDs.
And, of course, as Adam notes in the very first post: It’s damn good television.
Jessica, both of those *obvious* reasons were noted and discussed in the post, but when I dug a little deeper they didn’t fly for me as reasons the DVD has sold *so* well. But I could definitely be wrong
lester the l word seems to be primarily watched by hetrosexual men watch the show and you’ll understand why….
Robert, you may be right, but at the moment it’s speculative until someone does a demographic poll of who’s buying the DVD. It could be just word of mouth that the show is good, or spillover from Twilight, or any combination of any number of things as well as the gay demographic. There just isn’t enough evidence. The fact that the show does appear to be treating vampires as gays in some respects isn’t proof of anything.
I think the show as a whole is more an analogical rant about race and religion in the Deep South than specifically about gays. Of course the writers will pull some of this and some of that from every form of discrimination and social discourse of the moment. So gay references will get in there as well.
For myself, I’ve downloaded and watched all episodes of True Blood so far, and I find the show incredibly FUNNY. The characters are all whacked and off the wall. They do incredibly stupid things and get in more trouble in one episode than most characters do in a season. The vampires seem to have more common sense than any of the humans, although they make mistakes, too.
It reminds me of Anne Rice once pointing out that vampires are an excellent way to discuss the human condition since they are shamanic characters – human but outside humanity and thus able to speak it – which this show does very well.
Season two appears to be attempting to be a little more serious so far – I haven’t laughed as much as I did in season one so far in season two.
But Jason Stackhouse gets my vote for THE dumbest redneck in US history. I can already see him getting ready to hump the preacher’s wife – who is seriously hot if you like dumb Christian blonds LOL – and getting in all kinds of trouble as a result.
And the new waitress at Sam’s restaurant is clearly something more than she seems, like most of the characters.
And what is Maryann in reality? A witch? The pig her familiar? The consort of the god Pan as she hinted at one point? A demon? Or the Devil? She’s clearly there to upset the whole town, not just Sam.
True Blood is a great show and deserves every Emmy nomination that it might receive. Anna Paquin did win Best Actress last year against Sally Field. However, Glenn Close rightfully deserves Best Actress. She wasn’t nominated because Damages was on in 2008.
I mean Damages was not on in 2008. I apologize for the mistake. Anyway, It’s certainly generating a lot more buzz than Damages. Also, counting in OnDemand, True Blood does get around 7- 10 million viewers per week. I would also like to know season 2 of The Sopranos just to look at a comparison.
As for marketing? Well I saw several ads across cable networks and many, many billboards across Hollywood. HBO was even marketing it on broadcast networks. In fact, HBO even placed a front page ad in the LA Times, a move that was criticized and rightfully so. From Broadcasting & Cable, “HBO has made a huge marketing push behind True Blood, a bet that, at least initially, seems to have paid off.” http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/294649Cable_Ratings_True_Blood_Delivers_For_HBO.php. Also, according to USA Today marketers are really liking True Blood. Even Harley-Davidson has gotten into the act. “”We’re always looking for ways to do something unique and unexpected and break through the clutter,” says Mini marketing communications manager Kate Alini. “The show is thought-provoking and edgy. It’s a really good fit.”
And it’s a good vehicle for reaching viewers in the same target market. “This is a very cool, sexy, powerful brand,” says Dino Bernacchi, Harley-Davidson’s director, advertising, promotions and entertainment. “It’s youthful and powerful and has attitude and strength. That’s really a great partner for a brand like ours.” http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2009-05-25-fake-ads-true-blood_N.htm
Viewers have gotten sucked in, too.” So, Obviously Robert is wrong on the marketing and Watercooler front, because it’s generating a lot of buzz, and that USA Today article proves it!
True Blood is very popular right now and the ratings are evidence of that. So are the DVD sales too and marketing.
I think heterosexual females are fueling the DVD sales. I read a few of the books last season and they read like romance novels – porny, fast reads about a somewhat normal, pretty woman surrounded by powerful, brooding, sexy men who all want her. From seeing the amount of space that genre of fiction takes up in my local Borders, I imagine it sells really well. None of those other shows mentioned fit that market as well.
As mentioned the whole vampire thing, beautiful naked women and exclusivity of HBO is probably strengthening the numbers bringing in additional audiences. I thing the cliffhanger endings also benefits the show numbers by increasing the word-of-mouth. I know that’s what sucked me into the show last year and made me want to talk about it during the week while waiting for the new episode.
Erm…how can I put this delicately??
The whole article is basically a huge assumption that requires a giant leap of faith just to be comprehended.
I’m 23, straight and loving True Blood.
Just because Alan Ball is gay and *might* wanna make a statement about gay rights or equality (which could be right, or wrong or basically just another point of view), it doesn’t mean that the whole show is a shallow propaganda.
As mentioned before, one can interpret the whole “racism” thing according to their personal experiences and needs. A black guy, a gay man or woman, an economic refugee…everyone can and will interpret the main idea of the show differently, based on their personal problems and feelings.
Such was the case for Ball’s previous show, Six Feet Under and that’s what I love about his movies/shows: watching them gives you food for thought, making you question the standards and stereotypes of modern-day society. Is that something you can find in all shows? I really doubt so.
Now if watching True Blood and enjoying it means I’m gay (just like watching a Coala, would me make me a Coala bear), then I guess I’m gayer than Christmas lol
PS: How did you reach the assumption that gays are buying the dvd (ergo watching the show) and not that porn-addicts or violence junkies aren’t the ones driving the through-the-roof DVD sales?
I mean come one! Sookie is hot! :p
One thing that might support Robert’s concept is that there IS a significant overlap between the gay and vampire sub-cultures. Journalist and forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland pointed that out in her landmark study of the vampire sub-culture, “Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today”. That was a great read and I recommend it to anyone interested in the the vampire craze. Apparently quite a few gays are into the whole occult and vampire scene.
Wannabe pundit Matt Yglesias just tweeted yesterday that had he known “Ensign Ro” (Michelle Forbes, who plays Maryann) was on the show he would have watched it before.
I thought True Blood was just about some vampires…
I’ve talked to a “few” people, too, so we’re using the same sample size. Out of those few with new found True Blood interest, only one was gay. Therefore, only 33.3% of True Blood’s DVD sales are from the gay community. I take that back. He rented.
My best guess would be that instead of appealing to one niche market, ‘True Blood’ is appealing to a whole bunch of niches. As far as I can remember this is HBO’s first foray into genre/”cult” programming (well, there were ‘The Hitchhiker’ and ‘Tales From The Crypt’ all those years ago) and it’s always been my belief that sci-fi/horror/etc. fans are much more likely to buy things like DVD sets. And following that, I don’t think “cult” shows can’t be popular – I’d call ‘Lost’ a cult phenomenon despite it being a very successful show.
One other factor that’s tough to gauge is that I’ve seen consistently low prices on the DVD set since it came out – Amazon has it for $30, and I swear I’ve seen it lower (approaching the $20 mark) at stores like Target. That seems pretty low for a brand-new HBO show, and might be indicative of them trying to adjust their marketing strategies.
Oh go on, gays can’t be that desperate? *g*
Would explain Torchwood though
I was a fan of Buffy but not Twilight, I thought I would give True Blood a chance just because it looked somewhat interesting. I agree though that the first few episodes weren’t that great. I got hooked as it went along…I think you’re right though, it does have a very broad range.
And it is covered extensively on gay-themed blogs, mostly due to the high camp nature, and the love of Lafayette. If you look at the recaps on google news the next day after an ep airs, there’s at least 10 blogs who cover the show which have a focus on gay issues in the media..including the recapper at The Huffington Post.
I find this article very…ignorant. I do believe when I watch the show there are a lot of gay rights metaphors. At least that is what I see. But I do not see gay people driving the sales of True Blood. It’s a great show and has a lot of buzz about it in general…why can’t that be the reason for great DVD sales.
I personally didn’t watcht the first season live but heard all about it and bought it on DVD. Now I’m addicted to everything True Blood and season 2 is FANTASTIC.
I mean just wow…the third episode “scratches” I absolutely LOVED because of the way they introduced new characters (cough creatures cough cough). I personally think that season 2 will break 2 million in units sold for DVD sales. It’s that good and the word of mouth is THROUGH THE ROOF
I think this article (while an awesome read and I’d love to see more things like this on this site) is complicating things a bit much. I think True Blood’s success has come from good old-fashioned word of mouth like a few other posters have mentioned. There have been other shows with a strong pro-gay message on cable television that haven’t seen nearly the success that True Blood has had. The strong promotional push + incredible word of mouth + the whole vampire thing + Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer frequently being featured on celebrity gossip sites = $$$$$. I think all of those factors have played into the show’s success. It’s the “it” show on TV right now and that’s certainly helped a lot more than the gay community going after it. A quick check of some prominent gay websites doesn’t show much of anything about the show on there.
Just curious if anyone thinks the ratings would be higher if not for the availabilty of the episodes on demand. I watch TB on demand and not on the night it airs, but I watched Sex in the City and Sopranos on the night they aired. Also, I think that the DVD’s sell so well because the show seems to have something for everybody. Everyone seems to have a different reason for watching and a different interpretation of what it all means.
Kathy B., I’m sure that video on demand does reduce the measured ratings a bit, but it’s hard to know how much. We have seen some overall VOD statistics (like Comcast announcing they’ve served 11 billion VOD views in 6 years), but they’re been very PR oriented and light on comparable numbers, and never any for individual shows.
Well, True Blood regular gets about 7 million viewers when VOD ratings are included, so I think that makes a big difference.
I like True Blood. It’s an entertainingly sexy and gory mishmash of southern gothic and straight up horror pulp that’s not actually perverse enough to scare off the Pottery Barn crowd.
It serves up plenty of guilty pleasures without insulting the audiences intelligence…but the show doesn’t really challenge viewers, and it’s not nearly as ambitious as some of the best scripted originals that cable has had to offer over the past few years like The Wire or Deadwood or BSG or Mad Men. (And it really isn’t as original as it thinks it is–Near Dark does the redneck vampire thing with a much greater level of erotic and visceral intensity.)
I’m just afraid that it’s success may signal a trend toward the premiums programming fare that placates rather than challenging its audience, and thereby elevating their standards and expectations.
Fringefan, where did you get that VOD number? I have my doubts. Please link away.
We’ve never seen individual show VOD numbers, and we keep our eyes very open.
From USA Today. “Vampires are hot. Last summer, the movie Twilight took in nearly $200 million domestically. True Blood, which made its debut last year, drew an average audience of 7.8 million viewers per episode. The Sopranos, which ended its initial run in 2007,was HBO’s top show, with an average audience of 14.2 million. Sex and the City had an average 10.3 million per episode when it wrapped up in 2004.” The only way True Blood could be receiving those kind of numbers iswhen VOD is included. Again, Bill and Robert, HBO has spent a lot of money on marketing True Blood. I don’t numbers but I’ve seen ads all over network television and cable and Billboards all over Hollywood. Also, this article mentions how corporate brand names are liking True Blood. http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/2009-05-25-fake-ads-true-blood_N.htm
IMHO the DVD’s sell so well because of the romance between Bill & Sookie, more and more of Eric and the show is funny! Yes, there is the deep social commentary but in the end I’m not ashamed to admit it I’m addicted to the sex and blood! (did I just say that!)
The gays are buying/watching for the same reason straight viewers are, the characters, Bill, Eric, Sam and Jason are Hot!! The show is funny, Lafayette and Jason, the Sheriff & Andy and now Jessica, and the ladies are beautiful and talented, Sookie, Tara, Arlene, Jessica again and Maryanne (if I left your favorite out, sorry). Yes, I left out Hoyt, I just love him too!
If you haven’t figured it out yet sexy actors with lots of blood and throw in some social commentary. $$$$$ I just love Alan Ball.
My girlfriend LOVES this show.
I LOVE the tremendous amount of nudity I see while watching this mediocre drama.
Fringefan, your conclusion that those numbers are because of VOD is almost certainly wrong. What is almost certainly the case is that those numbers are a cumulative audience across all airings of a particular episode. Cable networks quote numbers that way all the time, particularly for PR purposes.
We typically do not use cumulative numbers for a variety of reasons: 1) they’re not as readily available to us as individual episode numbers, and 2) comparing numbers that way makes them apples to oranges when compared to non-cumulative numbers, whether from broadcast or other cable shows.
No question that True Blood is very popular, but my comment above about VOD holds. It likely contributes a bit to reducing measured TV ratings, but there are no publicly available numbers to know how much.
Well, Bill you might be right. But, my point was that True blood gets a huge uptick in ratings after the initial live viewing. That’s basically my point. True Blood season 2 is better than season 1.
I’m probably one of this show’s most fervent fans, bouncing back and forth between a couple internet fan communities, buying the DVD when it came out, DVRing episodes, etc.
I’m a straight male, and the main reason I started watching was Sookie. Anna Paquin is both talented and unbelieveably hot as the main character, and her chemistry with Stephen Moyer is outstanding.
One thing I’ve noticed online is there is a vast female audience for the show, probably due to the romantic subplot and the rivalry between Bill Compton and Eric Northman over Sookie. I saw somewhere a study that said TB’s audience is mostly female, and the fan forums reflect that.
thanks for the laugh
That may be the link between True Blood and Twilight. Now, 14 year old girls won’t see True Blood. But, a Twilight viewer who is 24 or 25 might watch True Blood. It might not appeal to the same audience, but it diffinitely appeals to a similar audience. The main difference is that True Blood appeals to adults and Twilight appeals to teenagers. Hence similar but not the same.
This is interesting. I don’t think the DVD sales are driven by gay men (I’m a gay man and I haven’t seen it and neither have any of my gay male friends). My guess would be that the sales are driven because it’s niche programming. Those kinds of shows always seem to sell better because they have fans who are more intense in their loyalty.
One of the weaknesses of ratings is that they don’t tell you how much the person watching the show liked it, or how intently they watched. That’s an issue which doesn’t turn up until you look at the DVD sales. As soon as marketers figure out a way to correlate the sales of items sold on shows with an intense following vs those on shows where people are eating dinner while the tv is on in the background, we’ll start getting better programming.
Surely there are dozens of reasons why people tune into True Blood. As a female viewer, the romantic rivalry over Sookie and Sookie herself are the last reasons I tune in! Jason and Eric’s sexiness, well, hell yeah to watching them on the tube! Plus, unlike so many other shows on TV, the cast is diverse! And that’s a good thing!
Maybe it’s a combination of factors, the gay-metaphor you mention for the gay viewers, the romance for female viewers and Lizzy Caplans spectacular boobs for the straight male viewers
It also has become well written!
I believe that cross dresser that can shape shift are the force behind the sales. Lets be clear, I have evidence. I work for the US gov’t agency of shape shifter inc.
Just for the record. I don’t watch the show because it does draw the vampire-gay metaphor. Effectively, they are saying “giving rights to gay people is like giving rights to blood sucking demons.” Besides, I found the one episode I tried to watch to be completely dull.
How did you find it dull specifically?
How did I find it dull? Wow! I was bored to tears. The episode I saw looked like any other blossoming harlequin romance story in the universe with the exception that the male lead was a vampire. That would’ve been intriguing, except that the vampire really wasn’t a vampire because he didn’t need to drink human blood. So, basically, he’s just a boyfriend with deformed teeth. BORING!
RfrancisR: That’s certainly an interesting take…
Especially since the male lead subsequently did drink blood in the creation of Jessica – and the rest of the vampires repeatedly talk about how they hate True Blood compared to the real thing.
So clearly you need more exposures to the show to even begin to get what it’s about.
And how it can be boring when it’s hugely amusing is another odd question.
Not to mention the notion that somehow it’s anti-gay because it uses vampires as a metaphor for gays (and discrimination in general). Once again, there IS a huge interest in the gay community in the occult and vampire sub-culture. There are a LOT of gay “vampires”. Go read Ramsland’s book I mentioned above. Or just remember how much discussion there was about the male relationships in Anne Rice’s novels.
Here’s the real reason. Pay attention. You might need to sit down.
Robert wrote this post just to get a rise out of all of us.
Shocking isn’t it? I fell for it too so don’t feel too bad.
Good one, Robert. You win this round.
callonmebill yes you did forget one VERY BEAUTIFUL cast member her name is Pam/Kristin Bauer. I think she is one of the very best too. She is funny witty and don’t give a darn about humans. Her charm is great.
I think the show is interesting, funny, sexy, hot, and mysterious (what about Vampires) isn’t.
I have to say I wasn’t “hooked” on Vampires before I watched this show, but now its pretty much a done deal. I loved Sarah Michelle Geller as Buffy but only watched the show for her, and that was intermittently at best. She was a very pretty young woman. I liked some of the shows I watched but it was for teens really.
I loved the previews from when they first started doing the trailers; for True Blood, so I watched and I fell in love with the show for all the above reasons. I then between seasons went out and TORE THROUGH all the books. And I am watching Season 2 the day it airs on the first showing if I can. As I know this helps the “numbers game.” I hope we get a season 3.
I am not a prude but I’m not some sexual being either, I have a healthy love life, I am a middle age woman and I can say that I think this show is watched by folks from all forms of life, its not ONE group that watches it more then others.
I do think if there was not Video on Demand a lot more people would watch it on HBO (like you used to have to do with The Sopranos and Sex and the City), but it’s good that technology is there for people who have to work and can enjoy the show later. Or who are on Vacation. Or who have family things that come first. But the “numbers game,” needs to catch up with its close neighbor TECHNOLOGY. Or we as viewers will loose once again on a Good HBO program. Please consider all sources before canceling and/or pigeonholing a prescribed audience.
Barring the cast and crew deciding in tandem they don’t want to do the show anymore, there’s NO CHANCE there won’t be a season three of True Blood. I’d guess even season four is a lock already.
Though I knew the headline would be attention grabbing, it wasn’t intended to get a rise out of anyone, though obviously it was a risk. In retrospect, I regret the headline. The real point was and is: “WOW: These DVD sales are amazing. Disproportionately amazing. Why?”
I am not trying to pigeonhole the entire audience and I was by no means suggesting that most people who watch the show or that most people who bought the DVDs are gay. As noted in the post, there’s a good case to be made for vampire-mania spillover from Twilight, but once I watched True Blood that didn’t seem nearly as likely to me as before I’d watched it. Looking at a lot of data, relative to other shows and the viewer numbers and DVD sales for other shows, both on HBO and off, the DVD sales are disproportionately high. Definitely not a “problem” for either HBO or True Blood! But if you can’t speculate on what seems like a numeric anomaly on a site about numbers (and the post was full of numbers!), where can you?
My take is that if True Blood had sold 600,0000, especially given S1 viewing, it would have been considered a success. It has already sold twice as many. It’s definitely possible that all of the excess is attributed to Twilight spillover. But it’s also possible that 400,000 in the gay community purchased the DVDs (and why would that be a bad thing if it did happen that way?). The truth is, we’ll never know.
As for the video on demand numbers, I would’ve loved to have considered them in my analysis, but unfortunately they are not available. But in terms of the show being renewed, those numbers won’t matter regardless of how high or low (and the VOD numbers I have seen for other shows suggest that relatively speaking almost nobody — even the people who have it — use VOD). Shows that sell a million DVDs get renewed and on HBO, shows with 3.7 million viewers in the initial viewing definitely merit renewal these days.
txladyjane, I am so sorry for forgetting Pam/Kristin. Where would Eric be without her and I wait weekly for what she’s going to wear!
Robert Seldman, thank you for your last line in the comment section about shows selling a millions DVD’s getting renewed. That’s all I want to hear!
callonmebill~ It’s ok I know you put on your original post sorry if I forgot anyone, but I just had to SHOUT that one out because Pam really is amazing, and if you read the books ~~~~Spoiler~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sookie and Pam become almost Sisterly in my opinion, and I think she really has a bond too to Sookie.
Robert we can only hope until HBO officially announces it I am not getting my hopes up, I like Rome a lot but it got canceled after two seasons.
I like Pam, too. The bit about her pumps getting dirty was funny and Eric had to agree with her about them to keep himself on her good side.
I’m just sad Lynn Collins got killed off in season one because she was incredibly hot. The new vampire Jessica is cute, though.
Unless they somehow screw up season two, always a risk, my guess is season three is a good bet.
@txladyjane: ‘Rome’ had a lot of things working against it from the beginning, the biggest being that it was incredibly expensive to produce. In fact, IIRC the main reason it was canceled was because the BBC could no longer afford to co-produce it, making it impossible for HBO to continue the series.
‘True Blood’ has got to be downright cheap to make in comparison – from what I understand it’s extremely cheap to shoot in Louisiana post-Katrina due to state initiatives designed to get films and TV series to shoot down there. Like Robert said, the only way it’s not coming back is if everyone involved walks off the set.
Yep, how HBO just has to get off its rear and approve season 3. Alan Ball (who is a major gay advocate) has said he wants to be shooting season 3 as soon as possible.
Robert,
I have a few comments here.
1) Being from the SF Bay Area, living in Mountainview and working in San Bruno I 110% agree with you on the Gay Community driving the sales boost. I work with literally dozens of Gay and Lesbian Trueblood FANaticis.
2) This articles proves controversy is an excellent article base
3) You said
“Barring the cast and crew deciding in tandem they don’t want to do the show anymore, there’s NO CHANCE there won’t be a season three of True Blood”
You are forgeting about “The Dollhouse Effect”. If Josh Wheddon decides that Trueblood is a threat, Dollhouse will kill it the same way it “Retroactively killed Firefly, the way it killed Virtuality before it was born and Terminated “The Robot Show” by driving it’s ratings down even though it aired in later spot!
~Lanie~
I think your article and several other similar articles are severly mislead. I have watched True Blood from the begining and I joined all the wiki or sites on the web. I found real people, just like me, who watch the show and love it! I have yet to meet or see any GAY members chatting or following the series. Not that there are none, just a point to say, I don’t think the sales are driven by GAYs.
One final note as well. I signed up to be a Nelson’s rater and got a insider look at the workings. There is no way, I repeat, no way the Nelson numbers are correct or real. No one should quote them when analyzing the appeal of a program.
Kritchie … have you met any Hispanics? Africans? Asians?
Oh… you mean you can’t tell based on the things they type?
@Kritchie
I am responding to all of the “Kritchies” in this post.
The multiple out loud protest against Gays being the success in boosting sales is absolute proof that the analysis that Robert put forth is valid!!!
No way you’ll be able to look at Trueblood the same now ha?
~Lanie~
“You are forgeting about “The Dollhouse Effect”. If Josh Wheddon decides that Trueblood is a threat, Dollhouse will kill it the same way it “Retroactively killed Firefly, the way it killed Virtuality before it was born and Terminated “The Robot Show” by driving it’s ratings down even though it aired in later spot!”
Okay 1st off True Blood airs on HBO, not Fox. It airs during the summer, so there’s no way for Joss to kill it.
2ndly the measurement for a successful tv show is different for HBO than it is for a broadcast network. Besides, while he may have been able to retroactively kill Virtuality, that was supposed to be a show on Fox, the same network that Dollhouse airs on, there’s no way he can have True Blood canceled for the reasons mentioned above. For the record, I’m a male and not gay and I bought True Blood on DVD! Lets face it Lanie, you’re just a jealous Joss fan. However, I loved Buffy and I like Dollhouse!
This is the 3rd time I have tired to get this post, posted…
Patrick O
Rome was good I was just disappointed to see it go Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson were both very nice look men. This show was sexy and sexual too, and the women were pretty on this show too…and I enjoyed seeing the cat fighting going on between the women.
Richard:
I love Pam and I loved the way Eric said that about replacing her pumps a lot of the board I am a member of said Eric owes her at least 2 brand new pairs of pumps I also say Eric needs to get that woman a pedicure too.
Yes Lynn Collins is pretty my husband watched the show because of Lizzy Caplan, she is pretty too.
I remember last year too that HBO didn’t boast about the shows ratings. Also, females heavily watch True Blood.
@Fringegan
Maybe I need to include (SARCASM)(/SARCASM) tags on my comments.
My point was poking fun at the DH Conspiracy crowd…..jeez
(SARCASM) Dollhouse killing Trueblood across the channel spectrum isn’t a problem LOL (/SARCASM)
Bill Gorman even thinks Wheddon was “on the grassy knoll”
Dollhouse is Dangerous
Yes there are a lot of women that like Trueblood, there are a lot of straight men that like Trueblood , however there are even more Gay Women & Men that seem to BUY it…. which was Robert’s point I believe.
I see a large number of you really don’t like the Gay Community to have a positive effect on anything or is it that a lot of you just don’t like the fact
that Robert nailed another dead on point?
~Lanie~
I have no problem with the Gay community at all I am very open minded when it comes to “sex” I don’t believe Vanilla is just ice cream. I just don’t feel like its the main reason for the sales the be so much, I feel like its a wide range of people buying it. I am glad any sells are great. In fact I have HBO and was thinking about buying the season just so I have it to watch any time I want as I think the show is that good.
My immediate family owns a few mini series and/or TV program shows like Band of Brothers, a few seasons of Law & Order Special Victims Unit, The General Series and The Czars of Russia from the History channel, and a very bad copy of OZ, that I knew I shouldn’t have bought for 89.00 for the whole seasons, it even has the HBO logo on it, so someone did a bad pirate job.
Anyway the bottom line is I am so glad that people are buying it, it means we might just get a few more then 2 seasons out of this HBO run.
And I am glad each one of us has the freedom to express our opinions openly.
I apologize if I misunderstood you Lanie. By the way I love Gay people and have no problem with homosexuality. I just have a problem with an article that dismisses the DVD sales as because of the gay community. Yeah, I know Robert said there wasn’t a problem with that. But the headline sounds prejudiced against gay people and some people might take that in a negative light.
Some people over at imdb seem to also have a mixture of opinions on this subject.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0844441/board/nest/142464638?d=142464638&p=1#142464638
Kritchie, you don’t get around much… one of the TB sites is owned by a gay man, one of the most popular forums is moderated by gay and lesbian members, and there are quite a few members of the same orientation.
AfterElton.com covers the show regularly and even posts video podcasts on each episode.
If you’ve never seen any gay fans then you must stick to a very shallow end of the fandom or purposely want to pretend they don’t exist.
@Fringefan
I must be having another “Asian Blonde Moment” Please explain to me how the title is anti-gay statement?
Use Crayon if needed!
~Lanie~
I agree, Lanie. I don’t get it.
It’s because it sounds negative.
How on earth does the title sound negative? If it said “Are women driving the tremendous DVD sales…” would it still sound negative to you?
@Fringefan: That’s the way it came across to me as well. As being excusatory for the high DVD sales.
What were the sales for the “L word”? That was more specifically targetted at the gay community.
It might sounds negative if you’re a.) not gay, and b.) small-minded and somehow feel threatened by the premise that a part of the gay population might in a big way embrace a show that you like even though it’s not a show specifically about gay people.
I think it’s completely fine to think, “Bah! He’s wrong — that’s not why the DVD sold so well!” But while I knew the headline would make some people uncomfortable, I was also pretty sure that nobody who is gay would have a problem with it.
It would not surprise me at all if 1/2-1/3 of the DVD purchases were from the gay population. I don’t have any problem if anyone disagrees with that (and obviously many have!). But if you go beyond simply thinking it’s wrong to thinking it sounds negative, that’s because YOU are threatened by even the notion that a large portion of the sales could be attributed to the gay population. If that’s the case, I feel very comfortable that it’s actually you who is negative…
The title just set me off to read the article in a different way. There are plenty of “Are Gays Ruining Marriage” or other “Are Gays the reason for [insert something here]” that I’ve come across. I think I would feel weird also if they have “Are Whites driving…” or “Are Foreigners…” because it lumps the community as a whole. Especially if the writer has to pepper the article with “Not that there’s anything wrong with that”.
There’s tons of reasons for the show to be popular; the sex, vampires, the south, race struggles, gender struggles, the SEX etc. but because there are SOME gay metaphors that the gay community would appreciate it must be gay targetted and therefore explains it’s popularity. It comes across as a “one drop of blood” type of theory.
The theory could be correct. But basing it on their being elements in the show that would appeal to the gay population and using that as the litmus test for who is buying isn’t logical. It would help if we had some evidence that the gay community is more likely than other groups to come out in droves to purchase shows that have themes targetting their community. If that’s the case we should see it in numbers for the L Word, or Queer as Folk. So it would be interesting to do a comparison.
JustTunedIn — that’s very narrow minded if you automatically think more gays bought Queer as Folk on DVD than Lost or Grey’s Anatomy or House. I think you reveal your true colors by such logic, even if you might not be aware of it.
My thinking was speculative, and perhaps wrong — but it was based on something that was a logical conclusion: True Blood’s DVD sales are way over the top of what could have reasonably been expected. As I said in the post, that certainly could be attributed to other things. But the headline was *nothing* like “Are Gays Ruining Marriage”. Unless you think spending power has a negative context.
You misunderstood. Your connection to why True Blood is selling better is because of it’s themes reflective of the gay community. The logic being that if gay themes are in a show, the gay community is more like to buy it. So I (and another poster at least) suggested that we LOOK at numbers for those that PRIMARILY have themes targeted at the gay audience.
Of course they would not compare with mainstream tv shows but they should appear disproportionately large in terms of the size of their target audience. That would suggest that this particular community IS more likely to buy a DVD of a show they like (and yes people will like something more if there’s something they can relate to in it). And therefore, it would have the effect you talk about.
And for your last comment, because I have come across other titles started with “Are Gays…” it put me in a bad from of mind. I did not suggest at all that you were implying that this is a negative thing for the show or the community.
Ah, well, yes, those are themes reflective of the plight of gays in America, but that is background for the show, not foreground. Embraceable background (I think), but still background. It could well be that a good drama with lots of other aspects that has some funny/light/not subtle, but still indirect references to the plight of gays might be much embraced by the gay community (both with men and women) than shows that are specifically about gay people, so I don’t know if it’s really useful to compare the sales of either Queer as Folk or The L Word.
But either way, unfortunately Queer as Folk DVDs were released too long ago to have access to the data. As near as I can tell, the L-Word didn’t register big DVD numbers, not in the realm of True Blood or even Weeds or Dexter. Unfortunately there is no easy (and free) way to get good specifics on DVD numbers for shows that weren’t top sellers.
I’m also curious what my true colours are, since I might not be aware of them.
I hope it’s pink!
I would recommend checking out the romance section at the book store. I don’t even have to explain more than that, you’ll see what I mean when you get there. (Hint: you wind find Twilight in that section).
I don’t think there is a Twilight connection, or if there is, it’s in a backwards direction, that Twilight actually came out of the already established popularity of the vampire romance.
Looking at other gay themed series sales on DVD such as Queer As Folk is rather flawed, imo… How would you compare the sales? It’s not as if QAF had any real traction among the mainstream. …and though I watched QAF for 5 seasons, I never bought a single DVD as I didn’t consider it something I’d want to view over and over again.
I’d, also, question the idea that there’s something special about TB that women are buying it in hugely higher numbers because of the romantic vampire/mortal storyline – Moonlight had a sizable online following, particular with females, and was seen by 7.5M people per week yet had positively anemic sales upon release.
How much sex was in Moonlight?
You think WOMEN are buying TB for the actual sex scenes? I’d think more guys would be doing that.
@JustTunedIn
OMFG I am ROFL spitting my Redbull all over the screen!
The “L” word, like the word LESBIAN is a negative or a slur, Now I finally get it how that @Fringefan thinks the title is negative….
To @Fringefan and other small minded idiots, Gay and Lesbian are slurs!
What’s next, the fact I am “Asian” is a slur LOL
God forbid if I were an Asian Lesbian that bought Trueblood!!!!
~Lanie~
Robert: “My thinking was speculative, and perhaps wrong — but it was based on something that was a logical conclusion: True Blood’s DVD sales are way over the top of what could have reasonably been expected.”
And I still say that in itself isn’t logical. What is “reasonably expected”? The show is a HIT with SOMEONE! So it’s perfectly reasonable to see high sales. But that has NO logical connection with any specific demographic.
Lanie: Your evidence is also anecdotal, i.e., worthless. Without a poll of TB DVD buyers, we simply don’t know who is buying the most or why. However, I WOULD expect gays to be a big section of the buyers for the reasons I cited above. The question is whether they are the ones who have had the most impact on sales – and we simply don’t know that. It’s purely speculative without a poll.
John: Why wouldn’t women be buying TB for the sex? That’s almost a sexist remark. While more guys might be buying for that reason than women, there’s nothing that says women wouldn’t also buy it for that reason. It’s socially easier for women to buy a “mainstream” sex product than a porn product. You can always claim you’re into the “vampire thing”. Or claim that it’s the “romance”. Just look at the “bodice ripper” demographic – it’s about sex, not romance. I fully expect women to be buying TB in large numbers, both for the male actors and for the sex. And I wouldn’t be surprised to find that their numbers equal or exceed the numbers of gays buying it.
@RSH
I agree, nothing scientific on my part.
I think I was more amazed with the fact (right or wrong) about the gay TB viewers that some people thought that a gay viewer was a negative…
I am 100% certain though, that the studio could care less what orientation any of the millions of DVD buyers are, agree?
~Lanie~
Also, I might point out that men can buy products with considerably more sex in them than TB – unless they’re married, perhaps. So unless the males are very much into vampires, I wouldn’t expect male sales of TB to necessarily outnumber female sales. The show very much appeals to females and gays more than males – except those males into vampires and horror movies.
TB has three main leads – Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, and Rutina Wesley. Two are female. Most of the story lines revolve around the two females and their relationships with the male cast. Aside from the gore and the vampires, the show is practically a “chick flick”.
I might also point out that there is probably a large black demographic watching and buying this series because it clearly also deals with race relations and the impact of religion on blacks in the South. I would expect this demographic to be smaller, however, due to economic disparities leading to fewer HBO subscribers among the black population. However, that might in turn lead to purchases of more TB DVDs by that population as a result of word of mouth, rather than direct viewers.
Lanie: Oh, yeah, the studio and the network are loving this. It’s just too bad a show like this can’t be aired on broadcast TV due to the puritanical nature of this country.
RSH, it’s obvious the DVD is a hit as far as TV shows goes and I am quite sure HBO doesn’t care who is buying the DVD. But it’s not perfectly reasonable to see high sales out of relative thin air and assume there are no reasons for it. True Blood’s sales are way over the top of what I would’ve reasonably expected based on a lot of other data of TV show ratings and DVD sales. And probably by 50% (or a 3rd of the total).
When it comes to poor choice of words, it was “Driving” not “Gay” that was the poor choice. I doubt that *any* segment is driving total sales beyond the segment of people who buy DVDs
Had it sold ~750,000-800,000 after six weeks I would’ve thought “WOW, that’s really good!” but wouldn’t have thought much more of it. At 1.2 million it’s beyond “WOW, that’s really good” to “WOW, that’s really good and WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?!”
I don’t wonder if gays (or any particular factor) are driving the overall sales, but I do wonder what is it play that catapulted the DVD sales from OK or even very good results to the “WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!” level. The nature of the beast is we will never know, so all we can do is speculate!
This is the stupidest, most far-fetched thing I have ever read (Not that there’s anything wrong with that!)
Hey Robert, have you seen the second and third episodes of the new season yet, and are you planning to watch the fourth one tomorrow?
And can I ask what your favorite character/plot is? This show tends to be polarizing when it comes to liking or not the different subplots. (Mine is Sookie, for her fiesty quirkiness and how attractive I think she is.)
RSH: There’s nothing sexist about it. I’m sure plenty of women enjoy those scenes but the suggestion that those specific scenes were the big reason why women would buy TB over ML seems rather silly.
Are the rambling theories, conjectures and (alcohol fueled?) random thoughts by bald-headed people driving visits to this site? Not that there’s anything wrong with that….can’t believe the use of a 16 year old sitcom reference. Twice. That really makes it all ok. Surprised he didn’t write “THE gays”. Should have posted “Are Blacks Making Tyler Perry Rich?”. At least that (in my opinion, also offensive) speculation would be more conclusive.
Goodbye, this was the last straw from this once wonderful site. This article is a joke, your site is now a joke. You will do anything to get hits won’t you?
Wow 100 posts and maybe 10 discussing the actual show.
@David4
Sorry to see you leave, but you might want to consider not every article will be written to please you. You might want to also consider there are other valid points of view than your own.
I suspect this reaction is to the fact that Robert credits Gays with something positive and it freaks you out that you might have something in common with the Gay community.
TVBTN has an Alexa ranking of 21,808 and I can assure you Robert and Bill aren’t “Begging” for hits. So don’t worry, you single hit today didn’t pay the mortgage LOL
BTW, you said this exact same things at least four times on my blog
Please don’t leave David.
Ok, some of you are ignorant. I’m gay, my friends are gay, and we love this show because..frankly…it has way too many gay inuendos. This show is very much a metaphor for gay rights. Duh! And it’s probably going to get gayer. Now that LaFayette has been saved (he was killed in the first book) Allan Ball is keeping him around so he can make it even gayer, just like Six Feet Under, where the gay sex became more prominent throughout the series (including graphic gay sex fairly regularly by the third or fourth season). This show is mainly watched by gays and girls, and now that its being pointed out, the heteros are getting their panties in a bunch. Chill out. Just because you watch a gay themed show, doesn’t make you gay. But this article–entirely–Robert, you’re right.
John: “the suggestion that those specific scenes were the big reason why women would buy TB over ML seems rather silly.”
I’m not sure why. ML had little sex compared to TB. That makes TB MUCH more interesting for everybody, women included. There may be other reasons why women would be buying TB over other shows, but the sex is very likely a big reason.
Robert: I didn’t say there were no reasons for the DVD sales, just that your reason is purely speculative in the absence of poll data. So any one demographic “driving” is the wrong word, as you admit. And you are correct that this is all speculative.
There may or may not be one or more demographics driving the sales, we don’t know that either. But as a purely speculative guess, I would say that a combination of male sex addicts, female sex addicts, male and female vampire addicts, gays (both vampire addicts and more general gays), and blacks are driving those sales. It’s doubtful that any ONE of those demographics would be enough to drive this sort of sales level, but in combination it could be.
Drew: Re favorite subplot.
I found the Tara vs her mother and the voodoo woman subplot to be boring as hell in season one. The current Tara vs Maryann subplot is more interesting mostly because Maryann is more interesting. I don’t find Tara interesting much at all, although she can be good for some laughs.
The whole murder story arc in season one was mildly interesting, but once it resolved to just one human psycho the whole thing lost interest.
Jason’s problems are good for laughs, but otherwise he’s boring, being THE dumbest redneck in US history. Sitting through all the religious nonsense in season two is trying, I tend to fast forward through that. At least he always has hot babes around, though. You gotta know he’s going to end up banging the preacher’s wife in season two and I’m looking forward to those sex scenes.
Sam’s relations with Sookie and Tara aren’t that interesting. He’s only mildly interesting because of the shape-shifting, and in season two, because of his past with Maryann.
So that pretty much leaves Sookie’s relationship with Bill, and Bill’s relations with his vampire brethren, and possibly wherever the show goes with Maryann and the new monster. That’s where the show gets my interest: the exploration of another fictional variant of vampire society and how humans get caught up in it. It’s always more fun when Eric and Pam show up or other vampires or situations at Fangtasia.
I’ve been thinking that Sookie and Bill are being pretty dumb about getting her more involved with the vampire society. It seems clear that the vampire society is pretty much like Mafia families. There’s a “code of conduct”, but outsiders generally come to a bad end if they get involved because inside the family it’s pretty much dog eat dog, since in the end it’s still a criminal enterprise. It seems clear very few vampires are interested in following human law instead of their own more brutal rules.
So I think Sookie will be lucky to get out alive since she doesn’t seem to understand that her moral attitudes are irrelevant. Smacking Eric in the face for example was a really stupid move, given we’d seen him rip a human literally to pieces.
And Jason is heading for direct confrontations with vampires, so his expected life span would seem to be short.
This is a ridiculous article. It is completely baseless to assume that gay people form a cohesive market. What does someone’s sexuality have to do with their taste in TV shows?
I’d also like to point out that “gay” is an adjective, not a noun, because it’s a description of one characteristic of a person, not a label that identifies a person’s entire character.
Re RSH: the exorcist subplot annoyed me too. Tara usually I found interesting due to the emotional range she goes through, but a lot of the stuff she was in, I was like “Really?”
Jason’s escapades got really old really quick so I was glad when he stayed with one woman for several episodes, and then furious when poor Eddie died. I bet right Jason is on the verge of a mental breakdown between the memory of Eddie and the hatred of the FotS. (And SPOILER: He does sleep with the preacher’s wife in the next few episodes SPOILER.)
Now Sam I like, probably because I think he’s a good natured guy who’s just way in over his head. I felt so sorry for him most of last season, and now I love to hate Maryanne, who’s slowly destroying him and Tara.
So we come to the vampires and Bill/Sookie. Eric and Pam are good for their wit and funny lines, but Eric’s “Do what I want now!” attitude is getting really annoying, and I’m starting to dislike his arrogance. I hope we see a more human side of him soon because right now he’s a rock with a sense of humor.
So my main draw is the Bill/Sookie relationship (which is mirrored in Jessica/Hoyt which I love). Bill is this captiving mix of savage vampire and broken-spirited antebellum gentleman, almost like he hasn’t been able to move on from the 1860s. Sookie is my favorite character. I love how she’s a mix of quirkiness from the telepathy, and sass from her firm moral compass, and if she’s not happy, I love how she will speak her mind. I think she’s one of the strongest and most complex characters on TV. (And I also think she’s really attractive, practically exuding sex.)
The Dallas trip I think will be important to Sookie’s growth as a character. The first season Bill helps her go from the lonely town oddball to embracing her vitality and sexuality, and now she’s being taken out of her small town into the totally new urban environment of Dallas. This is True Blood, so she probably will be almost killed several times, but I take relief in knowing they have to have Sookie around to have the show.
Having some fun with the top picture:
Tara: Hey Sook, ya know there’s this site saying that gays are buying a lot of the DVDs.
Sookie: Wait, I get naked several times a season and most people don’t watch for that?
Lafayette (offscreen): You’s right, hookah! I’m the big draw, so all y’all can see the Laffy! (Does a little victory dance.) But don’t worry Sooks. Bill and the guys love watching you.
(Sookie blushes.)
Provocative post! Traffic should be good! Personally, I found this post thought-provoking, but a little bit disappointing too.
Your speculative argument that gay viewers are responsible for these DVD sales estimates can neither be supported nor disproved by the numbers that you cite.
You infer audience characteristics based on your interpretation of program content. In other words, because there are some oblique references to gay social experience in the series, it should attract ‘gay’ viewers. That’s a reasonable assumption, but it’s not very reliable. As you can see from comments, some other viewers don’t share your ‘reading’ of the series. And of course the best proof available would involve a measured sample of the actual audience. Is there any better data that would support your argument?
For example, is sexual preference a demographic variable that is tracked at point of sales? I don’t think so, but perhaps you know more about that? How much do we know about ‘gay audiences’ and their media consumption? How do we know about it?
You obviously know a lot about TV. It would be great if you could give us not only interesting speculation but also some idea of what the limits of our knowledge are in areas like this. Truly fascinating!
@Malcolm Cecil
For the ones of us who aren’t “Intelligent Dumbasses” couldn’t you have simply said “I disagree with you Robert because you have no data” ?
There is a lot of you that is really freaked out by this post ha?
~Lanie~
@ Lanie
Hey Lanie – I guess I wrote my post that way because Robert made me wonder what kind of data actually exists about the gay audience, esp. for this series.
If I just disagree, or agree for that matter, I’ll never find out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/business/media/13hbo.html?pagewanted=2
Bill Carter has a few explanations for True Blood’s popularity.
“In the three episodes measured so far this, its second, season, “True Blood” has amassed viewer totals that any network, including broadcast networks, would be excited to own: 12.1 million, 10 million and 10.3 million. And HBO has attracted those viewers from an audience base about a third the size of fully distributed networks.”
“This season, “True Blood” has a first-run Sunday night audience of about 3.6 million, up from two million for last season.
HBO counts audiences across all the platforms that wind up offering the episodes: a repeat on HBO itself, repeats on HBO2 and its video-on-demand channel, replays on digital video recorders and downloads from iTunes.
That is how the numbers grow to more than 10 million. (For perspective, “The Sopranos” finished its first run with a Sunday night audience of 11.9 million, which grew to 14.2 million with the extra viewers added in.”
“But hit series are what keeps up HBO’s reputation as being talked-about around the water cooler, which is one crucial part of its business model. HBO’s profit is estimated at $1.3 billion a year.
The first signs that “True Blood” was working were evident in DVD sales of the first season, which, according to HBO executives, reached about one million, again HBO’s highest for a series since “The Sopranos.”
“Of course, as Mr. Baldwin pointed out, it did not hurt that “True Blood” came along exactly as another vampire series, the “Twilight” books and film, was exploding.
“I’d never even heard of the ‘Twilight’ books when we got started,” Mr. Ball said. But he added he is perfectly willing to run with the trend.”
You see True Blood and Twilight are linked based on the fact that both involve the vampire genre.
Another “straight” fan here. Am a 65 year old Grandmother of three. LOVED Buffy and was not a happy camper when that series ended! I immediately knew I would subscribe to HBO when True Blood was announced, and have watched every episodes, some more than once. Because of the series, I read the entire Sookie Stackhouse series of books by Charlaine Harris, on which True Blood is based. There are a lot of differences between the books and series (based can b very loosely used sometimes), with other areas of the books closely being followed. In any event, the book series has certainly brought a lot of viewers to the HBO series . . . and I am sure the books are not purchased primarily by gay readers.
Get Real!
I have to say this might be one of the stupidest connections anyone has made about True Blood. I watch the show because it is a great show. Yes there are parallels between the fictional vampire struggles and the real struggles of the gay community (the same parallels that could be drawn from any minority group) but they are minuscule and subtle. To take this extremely small part of the show and translate it into the idea that gay people must be the reason the DVD sales are doing so well is quite a stretch of the imagination. In fact I know quite a lot of people who own season one who are heterosexual. My partner happens to think true blood is a waste of time whereas the fact that I am gay has NOTHING to do with why I like the show. Way to be ignorant. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”
what did jason mean by explain europe!
true blood is tha shit and i wish i had the patience to wait till the end of the season so i could just watch the whole thing can’t wait till next weekend
And with the Emmys snubs I wouldn’t be surprised if the show starts to get more viewers based on everyone posting news articles about how upset they are about True Blood not getting but 3 nominations.
These are the nominations True Blood got
Outstanding Art Direction For A
Single-Camera Series
Outstanding Casting For A Drama
Series
(outstanding casting but not ONE of the actual actors/actresses got a nomination)
Outstanding Main Title Design