In 1975-76, the consumer introduction of videocassettes and videocassette recorders (VCRs) enabled viewers to tape-record TV programs and play them back later. Sony introduced the Betamax (“Beta”) in 1975, and in 1976 JVC in Japan introduced a slightly larger format, VHS (Video Home System), which was incompatible with Beta. This triggered a marketing war, which helped drive costs down and put VCRs in more homes. Beta ultimately lost the consumer marketplace battle to VHS, whose larger tapes held more programming space.

VCRs also got a boost from a failed suit brought against Sony by Disney and MCA (now NBC Universal) in 1976: The two film studios alleged that home taping violated their movie copyrights. In 1979, a federal court ruled in favor of Sony and permitted home taping for personal use. In response, the movie studios quickly set up videotaping facilities so that they could rent and sell movies in video stores, which became popular in the early 1980s.

Over time, the VHS format gave way to DVDs. But today the standard DVD is threatened by both the Internet and a consumer market move toward high-definition DVDs. In fact, in 2007 another format war pitted high-definition Blu-ray DVDs (developed by Sony and used in the PlayStation 3) against the HD DVD format (developed by Toshiba and backed by Microsoft). Blu-ray was declared the victor when, in February 2008, Best Buy and Walmart, the nation’s leading sellers of DVDs, decided to stop carrying HD DVD players and disks.

By 2012, more than 50 percent of U.S. homes had DVRs (digital video recorders), which enable users to download specific programs onto the DVR’s computer memory and watch at a later time. While offering greater flexibility for viewers, DVRs also provide a means to “watch” the watchers. DVRs give advertisers information about what each household views, allowing them to target viewers with specific ads when they play back their programs. This kind of technology has raised concerns among some lawmakers and consumer groups over having our personal viewing and buying habits tracked by marketers.

The impact of home video has been enormous. More than 95 percent of American homes today are equipped with either DVD or DVR players, which serve two major purposes: video rentals and time shifting. Video rental, formerly the province of walk-in video stores like Blockbuster, have given way to mail services like Netflix or online services like iTunes. Time shifting, which began during the VCR era, occurs when viewers record shows and watch them at a later, more convenient time. Time shifting and video rentals, however, have threatened the TV industry’s advertising-driven business model; when viewers watch DVDs and DVRs, they often aren’t watching the ads that normally accompany network or cable shows.