fancy this : It ’s 8 p.m. on aSunday in 1985.Knight Rideris on NBC . ButMurder , She Wroteis about to start on CBS . Two - thirds of American households will have to make an unacceptable choice : David Hasselhoff or Angela Lansbury ? The remainingthird , though , will be kicking back and watching both . How ?
By programme their dual - tunervideo cassette recording machine , or VCR , a miracle of magnetic tape measure that transform how we watch television and movies forever . But when they first came on the scene , not everyone was a lover . In fact , a major motion pic industry leader said that “ The VCR is to the American film producer and the American populace as the Boston Strangler is to the woman home alone . ” Yeah , it gets a turn striking . It ’s a tale regard the Supreme Court , Mr. Rogers , Tom Cruise , and E.T. , and we ’re about to rewind it all .
Hit Record
The advent oftelevisionin the American home in the late forties and its dramatic adoption throughout the 1950s volunteer a whole new entertainment portal for Americans , who had grow customary to radiocommunication as the medium of choice in their place . Now they could watch comedies likeI Love Lucy , Westerns likeGunsmoke , and riveting frankfurter - drive dramas likeLassie — presuming they were in front of their readiness when the shows came on . If they were n’t , they ’d have to go for the web air out a rerun at some point in the future tense … or settle for a description from shaver in schooltime , cobalt - prole , or their families .
Electronics manufacturing business knew consumers wanted a way to free themselves from assignment television set . In the fifties , companies like RCA were trying to break the computer code of practical video storehouse . The intellection was , if you could immortalize sound on magnetic tape , why not video ? But video recording footage requires much more data than audio , and therefore needs to move much more quickly around the tape heads in the machine . A company namedAmpexfigured out that instead of moving the magnetic tape around the headspring at ridiculous speed , the heads themselves should spin . With that breakthrough , Ampexintroduced the Mark IV in 1956 . But … there was a trouble : The gimmick was the size of a desk . It also cost $ 50,000 , or about $ 500,000 in today ’s buck . Not exactly an low-priced holiday gift . Ampex only sold a couple hundred of the machine to broadcasters who want to enter their programs and had the budget to invest in the equipment .
One of the first practicaltelevisionrecording solutions for households was theCartrivision , which debuted in 1972 . The Cartrivision used 8 - column inch charge plate magazine that were insert into a compartment on a television receiver console to disk shows . The white tapes were $ 15 for about 15 minute of recording time , so you ’d need two to grab an total installment ofThe Odd Couple , unless you want to shell out nearly $ 40 for a tape recording with 100 minute of arc of recording time . You could also lease feature article film likeDr . StrangeloveorHigh Noonfor between $ 3 to $ 6 at participate retailers . You could only watch over picture show once , however , and that limitation was n’t on the honor system . The tapes could n’t be rewound on the machine at home , only on a exceptional gadget in storage .
Cartrivision did n’t take off — not only was it a humongous $ 1500 , or almost $ 9000 today , it was also hard to utilise . You needed two hands to program a recording , with one pressing a button while the other twirled a knob . When you did manage to hone your ambidexterity and get it working , the impression quality was still poor due to a data - preserve recording process . Worst of all , you could n’t just buy the Cartrivision by itself . That $ 1500 bought you an total television console table , including the tube . On a sales flooring , it count like any other television , except it costthree sentence as much . By 1973 , Cartrivision was done .
That was believably for the full , because what was coming next was something the minor Cartrivision would never have been able to compete with : two monolithic Japanese companies spend 1000000 of dollars to outflank each other in a bid to capture the lucrative earth of take into account hoi polloi to look out moving-picture show in their underclothes .
The Format Wars
It started peacefully . Both Sony and JVC accredit that television viewer want to absorb in time - shifting , which allowed them to learn what they wanted when they wanted . In fact , the companies , with a little help from Ampex , collaborated to launch a machine called the U - matic in 1971 . The U - matic was develop by Sony in concert with JVC and Matsushita ( now known as Panasonic ) in the promise it could become a worldwide standard .
Since no one you bonk has ever owned a uranium - matic , you could credibly guess there were problems . First , it weigh 59.5 Sudanese pound , which is about the same as an 8 - year - older . Second , there was the price . There ’s a trend here of recorder selling for horrid total of money . The U - matic went for up to $ 2000 , or almost $ 13,000 today .
Because most people opted to grease one’s palms , say , a lightly - used mid - size car instead , the U - matic went the way of the Ampex political machine and was used mainly for commercial purposes . Sony and JVC knew they were on to something , but the machines needed to be much smaller , and so did the cassette tape measure . And that ’s where thing started get tense .
Both company agreed a menage video recorder should apply magnetic tape about a half - inch in width . But Sony founder Masaru Ibuka was more concerned about the size of the cassette itself . He told his engineers that clean taping should be about the size of a paperback book . And that ’s how Sony designed what would come to be known as the Betamax car .
JVC , on the other deal , was n’t positive they need to limit the size of the tape . Their designers , including Yuma Shirashi , who was general manager of the Research and Development Division , guess the most important feature was recording time — at least two time of day . That would be enough for a couple of television dramatic event , a movie , or at least a meaning chunk of a sporting event . If a cassette had to be a little bigger and the picture calibre slenderly substandard , well , that was a fair trade - off .
Shizuo Takano , who was general manager of the Video Products Division at JVC , did n’t want tape of different sizes and length that would only confuse consumers . He want a universal standard . He get it on it would take year for people to espouse the new engineering , even compare it to the stiff growth of a bonsai tree . Both , he said , call for years of unwavering commitment before gestate yield . He also know he ’d need to get together with other electronics fellowship for get the machines in more helping hand . This business of dissimilar tape size was n’t what he had in mind , and it perplex JVC and Sony ’s relationship .
After a yr of acute give-and-take over cassette size and picture timber , the companies resolve they could n’t come to terms . They die their separate ways , setting the stage for an epic face-off between Sony ’s Betamax and JVC ’s Video Home System — better known as VHS .
Beta Heads
Let ’s hit break for a moment . Even though we all know who won the peachy formatting wars of the 1980s , we should n’t underestimate the fact that early on on , Sony was very confident in their Betamax system . Granted , they ab initio made the same misunderstanding Ampex did , insist their recorder be deal as part of an total television console , the LV-1901 . Again , theprice was steep—$2295 , or about $ 11,000 today . But Sony also had a nerveless advertising campaign lined up for the machine ’s U.S. debut in 1975 .
Thanks to the built - in timer and threefold tuner , you could record shows on channels you were n’t even watch or catch show that send when you were n’t home base . Normal mass called this recording . In ads , Sony declare that substance abuser would be “ the controller and preserver of time , ” that they would be “ free from the restrictions of clock time , ” and that they would be able to “ break the clip barrier . ” In other words , Sony opted for shade .
Owing tosluggish salesof the compounding television and recording machine , Sony before long released a standalone Betamax unit , the SL-7200 , which was a more reasonable $ 1300 , or almost $ 6000 today . In just three calendar month at the end of 1976 , Sony sold a respectable 15,000 units .
But around the same time , JVC was denote their VHS formatting in Japan . The tapes were about 30 percent tumid , but they could record for two hours compared to Betamax ’s one hour . They were also happy to license their technology to other companies , like RCA .
RCArecognizedthat summercater fans would need to be able to record games track down three hr or more . They told Sony that an alternative to retard down the recording speeding to get more out of a videotape would be appealing to consumers . Sony disregard the suggestion , but JVC listened . give up in 1977 , RCA ’s first VHS model , the VBT200 , allowed users to change the speed , stick up to four hours per$25 tape . There was a loss of photo quality , but sports buff did n’t really care . They just want to see the whole biz .
Although both Betamax and VHS had roughly 240 product line of resolution each — that ’s about a quarter the solution of today ’s eminent - definition signals — Sony was able to convince videophiles that Betamax had the ranking picture . In truth , the difference in character was underage , and on most televisions , it would be hard to tell a difference . Still , like audiophiles , videophiles wanted the best product potential , and in the late seventies , a firm following of Betamax user sprung up . They even had a name — genus Beta head — and a thriving community that corresponded by mail .
And if that vocalize paranoid , well , it was n’t . Despite the billions of dollars they would eventually earn from the home video market , moving-picture show studios thought both Betamax and VHS were sound to spell their doom . In fact , it was Motion Picture Association of America presidentJack Valentiwho compared the videocassette recorder to the Boston Strangler . ( Valenti was really , really upset over videotape . ) Thankfully , Mr. Rogerswas around to put thing in perspective .
Mr. Rogers Goes to Washington
Both Betamax and VHS were design with one purpose in thinker — to allow consumers to create their own television schedules . But it became clear pretty quickly that consumers wanted something else , too . They wanted to be able to view major motion pictures at base .
Remember — in the 1970s and early1980s , movies on demand were n’t really a affair . Studios sometimes re - release big hits , and repertory theater might riddle older movies , but that still required heading out to the cinema . Unless a motion-picture show was certify for program television or a pay channel like HBO , you in all likelihood were n’t go to see it . One example?Star Wars . unfreeze in 1977 , it did n’t come out on Betamax and VHSuntil 1982 . And it did n’t premiere on web televisionuntil 1984 — after the two sequels .
That ’s not to say there were no at - home options . LaserDiscs were being released around this time . In 1979 , DiscoVision had around 200 titles in their catalogue from companionship like Universal , Warner Brothers , andDisney . The technology had one vantage over videocassette recorder for the studios — you could n’t put down on it , which meant what the studio wanted you to observe was what you were watching . Those limitations might help explain why hoi polloi largely push aside the format in favor of VCR .
Studios worried that Beta Heads would consume into ticket sales . Two of them , Universal and Disney , sued Sonyin 1976 . In addition to give away the prison term barrier , Sony was accused of breaking right of first publication law by allow the copying and distribution of content . Universal and Disney wanted sales of the machine block .
The case go to trial in U.S. District Court in 1979 , where the judge influence Sony was in the rightfulness and that VCR were fair use of the studios ’ content . Universal attract , and two years later the decision was reversed . That set the stage for a showdown in front of theSupreme Courtin 1983 and 1984 , where the very idea of recordingThe A - Teamwas put on trial . And that ’s whereFred Rogers comes in .
Well , VHS was . By the end of 1983 , it was well-defined Betamax was on the roach . Consumers had purchased millions of VCRs , but roughly 70 per centum were VHS . It turns out JVC and RCA were correct about longer - running tapes . Betamax eventually offered longer recording times , but by then , it was too late . People did n’t care if magnetic tape were bulkier . They just wanted to watch out a moving picture at home without hold to deepen cassettes halfway through . And now it was up to studio to figure out how to make money doing it .
EnterTom Cruise .
Risky Business
Not all studio were scared of videocassette recorder in the later seventies . A man namedAndre Blaywas win over multitude would want to consider movies at nursing home . He tried convert studio apartment , but only Fox was concerned . Through Blay ’s troupe , Magnetic Video , they agreed to release 50 motion picture from their library likeThe French ConnectionandThe Sound of Music . Blay paid them $ 300,000 up front and $ 500,000 annually , plus a royal house of $ 7.50 per taping . Then he sell the videos for around $ 50 to fellow member of his Video Club of America , who pay $ 10 to join .
The business theoretical account worked . Fox in reality bought Magnetic Video in 1979 and made Blay master executive of twentieth Century Fox Video for a time .
While the movie sold well , not everyone trust there was a market for richly - price moving-picture show . People buy records because they liked hearing music over and over again . Would anyone watchJaws20 time ?
The answer is manifestly yes , but not everyone agreed at the time .
A man namedGeorge Atkinsonbelieved it would be more likable for consumer to rend film alternatively of buy them . Those 50 Fox release ? He bribe them and opened up what ’s believed to be the first video rental memory , Video Station , in Los Angeles in 1977 . Customers pay a $ 10 rental fee per movie and Atkinson clean up . He hired an office director , stuck him in the privy where there was a phone , and commence selling his business role model to other people .
The rental job would go on to become a fixture of nursing home entertainment . By 1985 , more than 15,000 rental stores were in operation . By 1987 , 37 million VCRs were in homes that rented an average of eight movies a month . alternatively of cost over $ 1000 , the automobile were now between $ 200 to $ 400 , with some budget model as scummy as $ 169 .
VCRs were so popular that they actually write out into the client base for wage channels likeHBOand Showtime , which relied chiefly on broadcast hit movies . In 1984 , HBO had 1 million new indorser . In 1985 , theysigned upjust 100,000 new viewers . harmonise to a 1986 account , The Movie Channel , aka Showtime , assay to offset the losses by encouraging VCR users to support so they could videotape movies — for menage see only , of course . HBO , meanwhile , decided to put more focusing into original computer programming .
The rental line was the primary reason video cassettes were so expensive . studio conceive people would n’t purchase an expensive videotape if they were only work to watch it once or twice . They also knew rental storage could rent the same tape dozens or hundreds of times over . So cassettes be a bundle — up to $ 100 each . studio wanted to make as much money as they could up front knowing they had no control condition over what happened to the cassette once it was sold .
But two studio thought there were actuallytwomarkets for VHS tapes . There was the rental market , which was booming , and what they called the sell - through marketplace . If tapes were reasonably - priced , then spate of people would opt to buy a movie outright rather than lease it , specially if it was something they ’d watch over and over again . LikeDisney motion-picture show .
Disney offered animated classic at sell - through damage in 1986 and sold a total of five million cassettes , let in one million copies ofSleeping Beautyfor the low , low price of $ 29.95 . Paramount remember the strategy could work for adult movie , too .
( No , not those adult picture show . And for the record , there ’s no evidence VHS follow because Sony disallowed expressed movies on the Betamax format . )
Paramount offeredBeverly Hills CopandIndiana Jonesand the Temple of Doomfor $ 29.95 . They sold about 1.4 million copies each . Market inquiry , however , tell apart studio that $ 19.95 was an ideal price point for consumer . That ’s when they ’d seriously consider buying rather than rent .
Paramount could n’t quite get the price down that scurvy . What they did instead was partner with Pepsi to establish a major marketing campaign for the1987 home TV releaseofTop Gun , the Naval fighter pilot training schoolhouse dramatic play starring Tom Cruise that was the biggest collision of 1986 .
In exchange for running a 60 - second Diet Pepsi commercial at the start of the mag tape , Pepsi would stop up the movie in television ad . For $ 26.95 , people could keep an eye on that beach volleyball fit as often as they liked . Top Gunwent on to trade an impressive 2.9 million copies , and modestly - priced tape recording of popular hits became common .
But believe it or not , consumers could n’t always get instant satisfaction . E.T. , which was release in 1982,wasn’t availableon home video until 1988 because director Steven Spielberg was worried about piracy . Unless you caught one of the theatrical re - spill , E.T.fans really were n’t able to watch the movie for most of the 1980s . When it was finally released , Universal made indisputable guard were posted at warehouses and followed along when the tapes were being transported . It even had a special hologram on the packaging to discourage pirates . And while it was $ 24.95 , a $ 5 rabbet brought it down to that witching $ 19.95 price point .
It sold 14 million copy .
sell VHS tape prove to be very lucrative , and not just for retailers like Walmart or autonomous video recording stores . McDonald’sgot into the nursing home telecasting businessin 1992 , offeringDances With Wolves , pestiferous Rotten Scoundrels , andBabes in Toylandfor sales event for $ 7.99 each at their 9000 restaurants . At the metre , Dances With Wolveswas a rental title , retail for $ 99.98 . Even though McDonald ’s only offered the movies for two calendar month during the vacation season , they sell 10 million tape — enough to make them the third - largest seller of TV cassettes that yr , behind Walmart and K - Mart but ahead of Blockbuster Video .
Andre Blay had been right . the great unwashed wanted to buy movies to follow over and over again . He believably did n’t see movies being sell at a drive - thru window , though .
Fast-Forward
Even though Jack Valenti dismissed VCRs as “ a parasitical legal instrument , ” they offend up being very good to studios . By the 1990s , half of all studio apartment revenue was from the place video market . But there was a big change .
Once people had VCRs in their home for years , the noveltystarted to wear off , and rentals experienced a declension . Studios kept pushing sell - through titles likeBatman , which sold 13 million copies , and belt along to put out them outside of the vacation buying time of year . But the day of come out of video shop with an armful of rentals were chronicle .
All state , the format go for about 20 year before DVD start out encroaching in 1996 . videodisc offered ripe declaration in a minuscule and more attractive disc format . Not even something calledD - Theater , which propose a gamy - definition motion-picture show on a VHS tape , could turn the tide .
Sony , for its part , had finally thrown in the towel and start manufacturing VHS VCRs in 1988 , although they keep make Betamax machines through 2002 and Betamax mag tape through 2016 . Funai Electric made what was reportedly the last - ever VHS VCR in 2016 , put a bookend on an era that began with an disceptation over tape size of it .
Even though we now have thousands of movies available at our fingertips that can stream immediately in high-pitched - definition , VCRs are n’t altogether disused . repulsion pic fanshave find that obscure rubric are sometimes usable only on VHS and have been know to pay off a premium for vintage copies . Others are nostalgic for the days when we wander through TV store , enticed by grapple cases or cardboard boxes that promised natural process , comedy , shudder , and love story . peradventure you ’d pick up something you never thought you ’d watch out . Maybe you ’d encounter someone special in the new outlet discussion section . Or peradventure you just liked having a VCR so you ’d never overleap an episode ofKnight Rider .
It may seem clumsy and clunky today , but Sony was right . VCRs really did allow us to break the time barrier .
