Jun 13 Podcast #1205: Betamax Turns Fifty
Can you believe Betamax turns 50 this month? On this week’s show we look at how the VCR changed the entertainment industry and gave us a reason to build our home theaters. We also read emails and take a look at the week’s news.
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Today's Show:
News:
- YouTube Is Swallowing TV Whole, and It’s Coming for the Sitcom
- Roku adds more premium features to its own line of midrange TVs
Other:
- Philips Hue Play HDMI sync box 8K
- Cosm
- HT Guys Music Playlist on Apple Music
- HT Guys Music Playlist on Amazon Music
- HT Guys Music Playlist on Spotify
- Ara's Woodworking
The Betamax Turns 50 this Month
In the late 1970s, the arrival of the Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) sparked a seismic shift in entertainment, as detailed in a recent Hollywood Reporter feature. Initially met with skepticism by studios fearing piracy, the VCR became a cultural juggernaut, reshaping how audiences consumed media and how Hollywood operated. By 1987, home video revenue surpassed theatrical box office earnings, with VHS tapes turning movies like Top Gun into cultural touchstones that families could own and rewatch endlessly.
The VCR democratized access to films, birthing the video rental industry—think Blockbuster’s neon-lit aisles—and empowering consumers to curate their viewing experiences. It also gave studios a lucrative new revenue stream, with tapes priced high for rentals before dropping for mass ownership. Yet, the technology wasn’t without flaws: tracking issues, bulky machines, and the dread of “Be Kind, Rewind” defined the era.
Beyond movies, the VCR enabled niche content to thrive, from fitness tapes to obscure genres, while fueling Hollywood’s sequel-driven franchises. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, the VCR’s legacy endures in today’s streaming wars, where on-demand viewing owes its roots to those clunky cassettes. The VCR didn’t just change Hollywood—it rewired how we connect with stories.
Here are some fun facts about the VCR (Video Cassette Recorder):
- First Commercial Video Tape Machine: The Ampex VRX-1000, introduced in 1956, was the first commercially available Video Tape Machine. It cost around $50,000 (equivalent to over $500,000 today) and was primarily used by TV studios, not homes.
- Home VCRs Arrived Late: The first consumer VCR, the Philips N1500, hit the market in 1972 in the UK. It was pricey (around £400, or $4,000 today) and could only record for about an hour.
- Format Wars: The 1970s saw a fierce battle between Sony’s Betamax (1975) and JVC’s VHS (1976). VHS won due to longer recording times (up to 4 hours vs. Betamax’s 1 hour initially) and better marketing, despite Betamax’s slightly superior picture quality.
- Rental Boom: Video rental stores exploded in the 1980s because VCRs were affordable, but tapes were expensive ($50-$100 each). The first Blockbuster opened in 1985, capitalizing on this trend.
- Time-Shifting Revolution: VCRs introduced “time-shifting,” letting people record TV shows to watch later. This was groundbreaking, though networks initially feared it would kill live TV. A 1984 U.S. Supreme Court ruling upheld home recording as legal, boosting VCR popularity.
- Early Adopters’ Struggles: Early VCRs were clunky, with complex controls. The infamous “blinking 12:00” on VCR clocks became a cultural joke because many users couldn’t figure out how to set the time.
- Global Impact: By 1980, only about 1% of U.S. households had a VCR, but by 1990, over 70% did. Japan led early adoption, with companies like Sony and JVC driving innovation.
- Peak Sales Period (1977–2000): The VCR was a dominant consumer electronics product for about two decades. We can estimate U.S. sales alone at approximately 100–200 million units over this period.
- Market Decline: VCR sales peaked in the 1980s and 1990s but declined sharply in the early 2000s as DVDs overtook VHS. By 2003, DVD sales surpassed VCR sales, and the last VCRs were manufactured by Funai in 2016.
Reader Comments (1)
VCR, what a blast from the past. I was in High School when it came out. My best friend's parents owned a record and music store. The bought a VCR to see if it would be something they could sell in the store. So I used to go to his house to watch tapes. Later on when I got my own place I bought my own VCR but soon became unhappy with the reduced picture resolution. So I purchased a JVC SVHS player/recorder. It recorded at a higher resolution. SVHS boasted a higher horizontal resolution of approximately 400 lines, significantly sharper than the 240 lines typically found in standard VHS. The tapes to record SVHS were about twice the price but their was a hack. If you purchased a good quality VHS tape, you could use a wood burner to burn a precise hole at a specific location on the tape cassette and this fooled the recorder into thinking it was an SVHS tape. The quality wasn't quite as good as an SVHS tape but it was still way better than VHS. I kind of think SVHS tapes were just a better quality tape but not totally different than a VHS tape. When DVD came out I did find a company that made a recordable DVD player that I could use to record TV at full resolution. I think it was made by Phillips and recorded to DVD-R blanks. I shudder to think how much I paid for it back then, it wasn't really affordable.
Thanks for the many years of great shows.