AMC Networks Re-Ups Disc Deal for Originals With Anchor Bay

'Walking Dead' DVD/Blu-ray releases joined by 'Rectify' and 'Low Winter Sun'

By Dade Hayes -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/5/2013 4:13:40 PM

The deal covers all US and Canadian distribution on DVD, Blu-ray and certain transactional digital distribution rights. Rectify, due in April on Sundance Channel, was created by Ray McKinnon, a writer, director and actor who appears as a series regular on FX's Sons of Anarchy. Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein, executive producers of Breaking Bad, are EPs on Rectify. Low Winter Sun is an AMC crime drama expected to air later this year that is based on a British series from several years ago.

Physical disc revenue is off its turn-of-the-century peak, but overall industry home entertainment revenue arrested a seven-year decline in 2012, finishing flat with 2011 at $18 billion. While significant new revenue comes from digital, sales and rentals of physical discs still account for about two-thirds of the industry total.

Walking Dead, befitting a top-rated series, has ranked as one of the biggest sellers on disc over the past two years. Its rabid fan base is such that a collectors-edition boxed set with special packaging designed by McFarlane Toys (retail: $100) sold out of its run of 35,000 copies.

Starz Digital Media has handled electronic sell-through and transactional VOD for The Walking Dead.