[harshy]

Well let's be frank here, gardening isn't exactly a quick change industry, the basic principles are the same now as they were a century ago - if you have a plant you need to feed it, give it water, cut the dead bits off and maybe prune it on occasion - in a nutshell.

The internet has sort of replaced that fountain of knowledge to an extent, though I note Gardener's World seems to have lasted.

That wasn’t quite the answer I was looking for :-) I was just wondering if tapes actually exist in the archive for long lost shows like Gardening  Time.

[Larry the Loafer]

I think we can only really hope the likes of ITV decide to pad out their streaming offerings with the kind of niche programming that Network dealt with. Not that I'm holding my breath, as ITV don't seem to value much of their older programming outside of Emmerdale/Corrie repeats and a handful of dramas.

I've no idea if it's still there, but Prime Video once had a bunch of ancient American comedy/variety shows from the 1950s deep within its offerings. I can't see how many people would've been calling for them to be made available, but I guess Amazon figured it made financial sense to boost their range of content.

[Neil Jones]

That wasn’t quite the answer I was looking for :-) I was just wondering if tapes actually exist in the archive for long lost shows like Gardening  Time.

I know it wasn't the answer you wanted, but it was the answer I wanted to give.
Being a Central show it probably does exist - I wouldn't subscribe to the "Lost Media Wiki" style of thinking where its claimed to be missing even though it probably actually isn't,.

I've no idea if it's still there, but Prime Video once had a bunch of ancient American comedy/variety shows from the 1950s deep within its offerings. I can't see how many people would've been calling for them to be made available, but I guess Amazon figured it made financial sense to boost their range of content.

they'll have got them cheap I would have thought, as a general rule the older something is, the more obscure it is and if it's in black and white (as per production methods at the time), the cheaper it costs to buy.

Must remember Amazon turns over more in a year than the GDP figure of many small countries - if Amazon was a country it would (it says here) be the 14th richest country in the world. They're not short of a bob or two, so even if the 1950s American content was sold to them at a premium 'cos they could see them coming, they can afford it.

[James2001]

I've no idea if it's still there, but Prime Video once had a bunch of ancient American comedy/variety shows from the 1950s deep within its offerings. I can't see how many people would've been calling for them to be made available, but I guess Amazon figured it made financial sense to boost their range of content.

A fair amount of that stuff is on the Roku Channel now, if you have access to it. Pluto TV had an entire channel showing old Johnny Carson Tonight Show episodes for a while too, though that's since gone (it is there on Plex though, another app you can get on smart devices, along with a Carol Burnett Show one).

I did watch every episode of Laugh-In while that was on Amazon. Quite an interesting show (though fair to say, some VERY dated values, especially with race- the likes of Sammy Davis Jr and Flip Wilson only seemed to be there for racial jokes), though got poor towards the end (IIRC the BBC never showed the last 2 seasons in the UK back in the 70s).

[WillPS]

AIUI a lot of Prime Video stuff is provided to Amazon on a 'pay per play' basis, hence why they have quite so much random stuff.

[Humphrey Hacker]

Just had a quick look at HMV's website and all the ABC Nights In DVD's are out of stock:
hmv.com 

Search Results | HMV Store
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  Source: hmv.com

[WillPS]

Just had a quick look at HMV's website and all the ABC Nights In DVD's are out of stock:
hmv.com 

I can't imagine they were pressed in huge volumes. It seems everything Network related is being snapped up by collectors at the moment - I had my eyes on an Invasion:UFO Blu Ray on ebay which went for over £20 (something I definitely don't need since I have the complete series set, but decided I want anyway). I was able to snap it up for £15 delivered from Cex, but still felt like I was paying over the odds for what it is. Price of fandom.

[Neil Jones]

I wonder if Network maybe used a "press on demand" service, due to the niche nature of their products.
There are print-on-demand options available for books so I would be surprised if it wasn't available for disks as well, since most professional disks are stamp based and can be knocked out in bulk through some fancy machine (glass master?)

[WillPS]

I wonder if Network maybe used a "press on demand" service, due to the niche nature of their products.
There are print-on-demand options available for books so I would be surprised if it wasn't available for disks as well, since most professional disks are stamp based and can be knocked out in bulk through some fancy machine (glass master?)

Amazon do this in the States - the products sent are just burnt DVDs though. Not wonderful from the perspective of a buyer who wants something which will "work forever" since recordable DVDs do not last the same way properly mastered ones do.

[Humphrey Hacker]

I can't imagine they were pressed in huge volumes. It seems everything Network related is being snapped up by collectors at the moment - I had my eyes on an Invasion:UFO Blu Ray on ebay which went for over £20 (something I definitely don't need since I have the complete series set, but decided I want anyway). I was able to snap it up for £15 delivered from Cex, but still felt like I was paying over the odds for what it is. Price of fandom.

Yeah I agree. It was perhaps the ultimate in niche products