Pop Culture Retrospective Episode #14 - The VCR: The home video system that changed family rooms all over the world during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. And also a bit on Betamax and video rental stores!

2016 was a year filled with a rollercoaster of emotions in the world of pop culture.  The Chicago Cubs won the World Series after more than 100 years. It was a very emotional moment for me as I have been a life-long Cub’s fan.  My sister was living in Chicago at the time, just a short distance from Wrigley Field.  I remember her telling me she could hear fans for blocks and blocks cheering and screaming.  I cried when they won, I had stayed up very late each night of the world series to watch the games. George Michael and Carrie Fisher passed away that year.  We also lost the brilliance of Prince and David Bowie.   And finally, in what was probably the most emotionally charged moment of 2016, the world saw the end of...it’s so hard to get this out, the VCR stopped being manufactured.  ThinkProgress.org wrote a beautiful obituary that said:

The Videocassette Recorder, a piece of technology already so obsolete you would be forgiven for not realizing it hadn’t died long ago, finally kicked it for good last Thursday, when Funai Corporation of Japan, the last known VCR manufacturer on the face of the Earth, announced it would cease production by the end of July. According to the New York Times, a company spokesperson said Funai will keep on selling VCRs “though its subsidiary until inventory runs out and will provide maintenance services as long as it can.”

The VCR is survived by the technologies that fueled its demise, which rule for now (the DVD), the foreseeable future (the DVR, streaming video) and probably forever (piracy). It was 60 years old.

The VCR or videocassette recorder was found in homes all over the world beginning in the late 1970s and into the early 2000s.  What began as a way to record audio and then video in the 1950s, evolved into the home video systems that launched movie nights and video rentals.  One of my favorite pastimes from my childhood was certainly watching movies on our VHS player, especially with my sister.  

With that being said, on today’s show you will learn all about the VCR - from the early days when purchasing one could set you back about 50k, to Bing Crosby’s involvement with getting this off of the ground to it’s unfortunate demise.  

So head to your local blockbuster, pop your popcorn and set your TV to channel 3, here we go!

Hello and thank you so very much for tuning in to the Pop Culture Retrospective Podcast, a show inspired by, and in memory of, my big sister Rebecca and her love for all things pop-culture, especially the people, places and things of the 80s, 90s and early 00s.  My name is Amy Lewis and I am your captain aboard this pop culture time machine.  You are tuning in to Episode # 14 the VCR, a consumer electronic’s product that changed how we spent time in our family rooms for generations.  

Before we get in to today’s show though, you may be asking yourself, perhaps if you are a younger listener, what exactly is a VCR in the first place?  Well, in short, it is an electronic device that records video and audio on a videocassette (which is about the size of a paperback book) that can be played back at any time.  

The pre-cursor to the VCR came in 1956, when the Ampex corporation developed a VTR (video tape recorder) called the VRX-1000.  It could record video and audio on magnetic tape.  At a cost of over 50,000, it was incredibly expensive and was only purchased by television stations.  Apparently Bing Crosby advocated for the development of the reel to reel tape recorder and helical scan technology which was the later inspiration for the VCR.  

In 1963, the UK Nottingham Value company developed the first home video recorder, it was called the Telecan or “Television in a can.”  It cost about $1600 in today’s money - so not only was it expensive, but it could only record for about 20 minutes at a time.  It was also difficult to put together so it didn’t quite take off but it was a start. 

In 1965, Sony created the CV-2000.  It used a reel to reel format like we just discussed, but it could only record in black and white.  It was smaller in size and less expensive than it’s predecessor so it generated a little interest from consumers.  The CV-2000 would eventually evolve into what we once knew as the Betamax.  RCA and Ampex later joined forces and developed their own VTR.  At first, these VTRs were developed so that people could record TV at home.  Soon, many companies began to flood the market, this started to create some competition.  

In 1970, Phillips created a video cassette format made for a TV station and it was made available for consumers in 1972.  

They named their format video cassette recording.  The tapes were square in shape and could record for about an hour.  It was relatively expensive so it didn’t sell super well. 

In 1971, we saw some significant events- the film Love Story was released and Walt Disney World opened.  In September of 1971, Sony created the U-Matic system which was the world’s first commercial videocasette format.  It essentially looked like a larger version of the VHS tapes that we would eventually come to know.  First they could play for 60 minutes, then 80 minutes.    

That same year, engineers from JVC named Shizou Takano and Yuma Shiraishi put together a group of people to develop a VTR that could be marketed toward the average consumer.  Some of their goals with the system were:

• The picture quality had to be the same as off-air or off-broadcast quality
• It needed to be able to hook up to most consumer owned televisions
• It should be able to connect to a camera or connect to another VTR for dubbing
• Price should be affordable
• It should be easy to use and easy to produce and fix 

However, shortly after the planning stages began, JVC cut the project’s budget and the VTR dream was put on hold.  Shirishi & Takano though, along with a few people that were left from the development team, worked together in secret to create prototypes late into the night.  The head of the Matsushita company (known as Panasonic in the United States) caught wind of this and saw the prototypes and immediately restored funding to the project, this was around 1973.  Matsushita was a major stokeholder of the JVC company.  

However, before VHS could hit the market in 1972, Catrivision came onto the scene and it was essentially an early version of the TV/VCR combination.  It cost about $1300 and with this system you could rent videos like “Guess who is coming to Dinner” which could be ordered via catalog.  It was then delivered to your house and would be mailed back after viewing.  You could even purchase a camera to make your own home videos! If you stepped foot into a Montgomery Wards, Sears or Macys in 1972 or 1973, you could purchase one but not for long as production only lasted for about a year and a half.  

However, by the mid 1970s, there were only two companies on top- Sony with their Betamax system and JVC with their VHS system. 1974 was then dubbed the “format wars.”  The Japanese ministry of trade and industry pushed for the video industry in Japan to utilize just 1 home video recording format - betamax which was soon to be released by Sony. JVC made a crucial decision early on- to keep the patent for their product open.  As it would turn out, a lot of companies were interested in getting in on the emerging technology.  Sony’s patent was not open.  This would prove to be a huge mistake as the Ministry of Trade in Japan decided to utilize both formats.   

In 1975, Betamax hit the Japanese market and JVC followed with releasing their VHS players there in 1976.  The US would first start to see VHS players in 1977 after JVC made an announcement at a trade show in Chicago.  A company called the Magnetic Video Corporation started licensing movies that could be rented.  It didn’t quite take off as much as you’d think, likely because of the expense, but I think Blockbuster and Netflix can thank them for laying the groundwork for future business ventures in the video rental industry.  More on rentals later...

With more companies being able to produce VCRs, the cost went down and thus they became more and more popular.  Families could now watch videos in their own homes- people could choose what to watch and when to watch it.  Zenith was one of said companies who made a decision to get in on the VCR/VHS craze.  I am quite partial to zenith because for many years we had a Zenith VCR and I had a TV/VCR combo that was a Zenith, purchased at Radio Shack, for many many years.  I took it with me to the WDW College Program and also to college where I watched many a Tae Bo Tape.  Zenith is an electronics company that was originally operated in America, based in the Chicagoland area, that was founded in 1918.  It was the first company to develop a TV subscription service.  They are also responsible for the first wireless remote control for TV as well as the one of the first companies to introduce digital, HD-TVs. 

VHS and Betamax were in constant competition with each other during the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s.  At first it seemed like Betamax may come out on top.  Their tapes were smaller than VHS and their video quality was alleged to be better than that of VHS.  However, because the tape was smaller, Betamax could only record 1 hour of programming whereas VHS could record up to 2 hours.  Further, VHS players could rewind and fast forward much faster than Betamax.  

And speaking of FF and Rewinding, I don’t know if anyone else experienced this, but our living room was of course carpeted (royal blue carpet to be exact)  and whenever me or my sister hit play or RW or FF on our VCR, we were hit with a static shock that sort of looked like a small bolt of lightning that went from our finger to the VCR which was always so annoying.  So, not having a remote and being irritated by the constant shock, my sister and I started using our toes to use the buttons.  Classy. By 1980, VHS had 60% of the market share in North America.  

It cost about $30 for a VHS movie which was expensive for many families in the early 1980s.  As a result, people started to record off of TV broadcasts. For example, if a movie aired on network television, it could be recorded and watched at a later time.  I’m sure a lot of people re-watched the 1985 Superbowl when the Chicago Bears won over and over again.  For my entire life I have been a HUGE Walt Disney World fan and anytime something aired on TV about Disney World, I would be sure to record it whether it was a Christmas Day parade or an episode of a sitcom heading to Disney World.  I even got more skilled at quickly getting to the VCR and hitting pause whenever a commercial came on.  

Prior to the success of home video viewing, movies stayed at the theatres for extended periods of time.  For example, Star Wars was in theatres for at least 18 months in some areas. The VCR would change all of that.  

By the late 1980s, it was clear that Betamax was on it’s way out.  In addition to Sony keeping the patent to themselves, they also left out a few key features that VHS players had including the infamous timer that I was never patient enough to figure out.  If you had a VCR and wanted to record something while you were not at home, you could set a timer to record at a certain time of day for a certain length of time.  So, if you had to go to work and were going to miss an episode of Cheers or Facts of Life, you could pre-program your VCR, record it, and watch it from the comfort of your plaid or floral couch, or maybe even your waterbed if you were a high roller.  Pretty convenient.  Sony was adamant that they didn’t need timers, but that was again, a big mistake.  Further, a Betamax player was about $1300.  A high end VCR was about the same price, but some lower end models could be purchased for about $900.  

1988 is the year that many people feel Beta died...movie studios had stopped released movies on this format and Sony started making VHS players.  Talk about eating crow!  Sony executives must have enjoyed feasting on humble pie! 

Just as VCRs and VHS really took off, the price of movies to watch at home started to become more affordable and thus more popular.  Some of the most popular VHS movies of all time as purchased in the United States were:

The Lion King, Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs, Aladdin, Titanic, Beauty & the Beast, Independence Day, Jurassic Park, Toy Story and Pocahontas.  

However, just as soon as Beta was on it’s way out, the United States saw the peak of video rental stores.  By some predictions, the US had at least 25,000 video rental stores with another 45,000 businesses rented videos out of their stores (i.e. grocery stores, gas stations, etc.).  Many video rental stores started to phase out Beta rentals which further led to the format’s demise as they stuck with VHS.  In the earlier days of video rental stores, you could also rent VCRs, later laserdisc players and some even did repairs.  What started off as maybe just one store location ballooned into more locations all over the country.  Some of the memorable chains included:  West Coast Video (1983-2009), Blockbuster Video (1984-2014), Hollywood Video (1988-2010).   At one point in my hometown, on a stretch of a main road that ran maybe 1-2 miles we had 4 video rental stores:  Video Villa and Shamrock Video (previously called Pick a Flick) both independent stores, as well as Hollywood Video which opened just a block or two down from Blockbuster.  In my head I keep picturing Blockbuster employees meeting up with Hollywood Video employees for a fight in a parking lot or maybe yelling something about getting off their turf if they ever stepped food in the arch enemy’s store! Needless to say on Friday nights, we had many choices for places to rent movies.  For so many Americans, a tradition on weekends, school vacations, etc. was to head to the local video store and rent a stack of videos.  On weekends, there were often lines of people waiting to check out movies. Amazingly, despite all physical rental store chains (and thousands of independent ones) going by the wayside, Family Video which is primarily based in the MidWest aka MidBest, is the sole remaining video rental chain in the U.S.   

VCRs and the VHS format then had a solid run for about the next 10 to 15 or so years. 

VHS players were improved during that time, offering a more clear picture with newer versions.  DVDs were introduced in 1997 and by 2002, DVD sales surpassed VHS sales and it was all sort of downhill from there.  As we all remember, the quality of the picture and sound improved significantly with DVDs, not to mention they take up so much less space!  However, for those of us who grew up watching VHS tapes, recording excessive amounts of tv shows and movies on VHS tapes that our parents had to dig out of storage and subsequently send to the local landfill (sorry, Mom), they will always hold a special place in our hearts.  

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I hope you have enjoyed this look back on the VCR, an electronic device that forever changed the landscape of the American family room for generations.  Some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around the multitude of movies and tv shows that my sister and I were able to watch as a result of my parent’s purchasing a VCR which I’m sure wasn’t cheap.  I can’t count how many nights I stayed up late watching all of the television appearances that N’Sync made which I recorded on several VHS tapes, how many nights leading up to Christmas that we watched the Muppet Christmas Carol or the Santa Clause.  They are etched in my brain and they will always be there.  And sure, we can watch a lot of that now quite easily and in excellent quality via streaming, but it’s not the same as fast forwarding, with your right toe, through the piracy warnings and opening credits.  The struggle was real.  

If you are enjoying the PCRP, please consider subscribing on whichever podcast platform you use.  Please also consider rating the show on iTunes or Apple podcasts, it helps the show out a lot! Thank you so much for tuning in and for your support.  Please tell your friends and family about this show!  Recommending this podcast to people you care about would mean a lot so please spread the word!  Please feel free to contact me, my email address is:  popcultureretrospective@gmail.com or you can tweet me, I’m @popcultureretro.  I hope you will join me for my next show where we will be discussing the history of Disneyland.  Until then, be kind, be safe and hold on to your memories….