Physical Media Isn't Dying (You've Been Lied To)

Rumours of the demise of Blu-rays and DVDs have been greatly exaggerated. Here's why.

by Ewan Paterson

Exactly two decades ago, in 2005, physical media recorded its biggest ever year in terms of sales, accruing over $15 billion in revenue from a combination of DVD and VHS releases. This peak came following a boom for the two home video formats during the 1990s, which presented affordable ways for moviegoers to take the theatrical experience home when it had once been out of reach. It became a core pillar of the entertainment industry, extending the cultural footprint of box office smashes and giving a second life to those films that weren't as successful. Rental stores emerged as communal spaces in towns and cities. The whole ecosystem of cinema had been transformed.

But as we all know, it wasn't to last. 20 years on, in 2025, the forecast for physical media is decidedly more gloomy. Renting giant Blockbuster collapsed over a decade ago, beaten and bloodied by the rise of streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video, while yearly headlines declare that the industry is dead or near-enough close to it, thanks to a combination of streaming competition, shifting attitudes towards media consumption, the rise of video-on-demand premieres and so on and so forth.

We're also privy to the knock-on effects of this contraction, as hardware manufacturers shift attention away from 4K disc players, retailers shrink their physical media shelves, and Hollywood overall is forced to adapt to a reality where films now live and die in their opening weekends - as Matt Damon so eloquently explained in his appearance on Hot Ones in 2021.

The overall picture being developed from this isn't particularly rosy, and while I would be lying if I said the state of physical media overall is totally problem and/or worry-free, it would also be fair to say that the hyperbole surrounding the topic isn't all that helpful. As the industry pertains to movies and television, yes, physical media is not as popular as it once was. However, it has proven far more adaptable than the bulk of mainstream commentary has intimated, shifting towards a collector-first model led by boutique brands, cinephiles, and scholars, meaning that, for those who are investing in a 4K or Blu-ray collection right now - such as yours truly - things have never been better.

[Article continues on next page...]

Advertisement
 
Posted On: 
Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.