Streaming Killed The Video Star

By the end of 1985, there were 15,000 video stores in operation across America; by the late ‘90s, there were nearly 30,000.

Today, it is estimated that only ~2,000 remain., according to The Hustle.

Even the giants have fallen: Blockbuster, once a multi-billion-dollar company with 4,500 stores in the US, touts only one remaining franchise on Earth. The chain declared bankruptcy in 2010 — and its one-time formidable rival, Movie Gallery (owner of Hollywood Video), shortly followed suit.

Last year alone, total revenue generated from US brick and mortar video rentals fell 20%, to $317m — the equivalent of about $150,000 per shop.

Driven by the rise of on-demand television, digital rental kiosks (Redbox), and streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime), this dramatic dip has distinguished the video rental business as one of America’s “top dying industries.”

Redbox now controls 51% of all physical movie rentals in the US, and the major streaming services collectively have 375m paying subscribers — most of whom no longer leave the house to watch a movie. Movie store clerks have been vanquished by algorithms that track our cinematic tastes and churn out lists of “smart recommendations.”