Chris Carter rumoured to explain music rights are preventing Millennium from Disney streaming service availability

[Orodromeus]

There was a Millennium panel with Carter and Spotnitz at this month's Philefest convention, celebrating The X-Files' 30th anniversary.

I heard through the grapevine that Carter said that what was holding Fox-now-Disney back from releasing Millennium on their streaming services (be it the SD quality we know or a new HD transfer suited for BluRay) is the music rights. These things are costly.

Feel free to browse the TIWWA music guide and suggest which tracks are the ones causing the most trouble. The pilot just by itself must be as costly as the entire rest of the series (Nine Inch Nails, Portishead, Rob Zombie/Alice Cooper...). But there's season 2 too, with its America and Patti Smith. Or season 3, with Blur.

[The Old Man]

Interesting, thanks for the whispers. I'm no expert, I was thinking about the lack of a streaming release the other day and how odd it was, given that Disney would be wanting to make the most of their catalogue. So many old shows (like The Collector) have been streaming for ages despite lacking HD.

 

[The Old Man]

I suppose the concern is that it would require a subscription (to Disney+) to enjoy, whether it was available in 4K or still in SD. I always hoped we would see it on a streaming service but of course, that's the catch. It deserves to be in 4K (!) and Blu-ray would certainly help bring it to a new audience! 🙂

[Gotham Gal]

On 10/1/2023 at 10:02 AM, The Old Man said:

Interesting, thanks for the whispers. I'm no expert, I was thinking about the lack of a streaming release the other day and how odd it was, given that Disney would be wanting to make the most of their catalogue. So many old shows (like The Collector) have been streaming for ages despite lacking HD.

 

You would think they'd want to capitalize on the catalogue for sure, and usually you'd think getting the music rights would just be a matter of money. I'm kind of surprised that at the time Fox/MM received the original license for the music, the lawyers didn't foresee new media uses and obtain those rights, too. Who knows. 

[davidmarx2000]

If this is the case, I vote that those episodes with major label tracks, which I think were predominately in the first season, be overdubbed with a couple of the Mark Snow classics...come on already lol!

[Gotham Gal]

That's actually a good idea...

[The Old Man]

I'd be happy with just a standard definition streaming release, to get the show back out there and re-generate interest until a HD remaster would make business sense.

With the rapidly increasing use of AI and massive increases in available computing power and efficiency, you would think the cost of remastering standard video in HD would be a lot quicker. If the process is less resource and time-consuming that equates to less overall expense, right?

Do you think Disney buying Fox's back catalogue was a good or bad idea from the viewer's perspective?