Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video (for

Warner Communications, Inc. Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

). The company launched in the United States with twenty films on

Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...

and VHS videocassettes in late 1979. The company later expanded its line to include additional titles throughout 1979 and 1980.

History

The company launched in the United States with twenty films on

and VHS videocassettes in late 1979. The company later expanded its line to include additional titles throughout 1979 and 1980. Warner Bros. began to branch out into the videodisc market, licensing titles to MCA

DiscoVision DiscoVision is the name of several things related to the video LaserDisc format. It was the original name of the "Reflective Optical Videodisc System" format later known as "LaserVision" or LaserDisc. Description MCA DiscoVision, Inc. was a div ...

and RCA's

SelectaVision SelectaVision was a trademark name used on four classes of device by RCA: * The Holotape, a prototype video medium * Magnetic tape * VHS videocassette recorders, and * Capacitance Electronic Disc videodisc players and the discs themselves. Cap ...

videodisc formats, allowing both companies to market and distribute the films under their labels. By 1985, Warner was releasing material under their own label in both formats. Titles from Warner Home Video were and continue to be distributed and manufactured by Roadshow Home Video worldwide except for Australia and New Zealand because of its film counterpart's films released by

Village Roadshow Village Roadshow Limited is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Ex ...

. Warner also experimented with the "rental-only" market for videos, a method also used by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

for their first release of ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' in 1982. Two known films released in this manner were ''

Superman II ''Superman II'' is a 1980 superhero film directed by Richard Lester and written by Mario Puzo and David and Leslie Newman from a story by Puzo based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the second installment in the ''Superman'' film se ...

'' and ''

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

''. Other films released for rental use include ''

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir action thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department (SFP ...

'', '' The Enforcer'', ''

Prince of the City ''Prince of the City'' is a 1981 American neo-noir crime drama film directed and co-written by Sidney Lumet. The film follows Daniel Ciello, an officer of the New York Police Department who chooses, for idealistic reasons, to expose corruption i ...

'', and '' Sharky's Machine''. In 1990, Warner Home Video acquired the worldwide home video rights to the MGM/ UA catalog. The $125 million purchase was used to finance MGM/UA's acquisition by the Pathé Communications Corporation. The intended 12½-year-long deal was cut short in February 2000, with MGM paying Warner Bros. $225 million to regain video rights to a number of its films. In exchange, Warner Bros. gained full control over the video rights to MGM's pre-1986 library, an asset the studio had acquired outright from

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for turni ...

, but due to a pre-existing licensing deal with MGM, was originally expected to expire in 2001. On December 20, 1996, Warner Home Video was one of the first major American distributors for the then-new DVD format, by releasing the films ''

Assassins An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder. Assassin may also refer to: Origin of term * Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins Animals and insects * Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviid ...

'', '' Blade Runner: Director's Cut'', ''

Eraser An eraser (also known as a rubber in some Commonwealth countries, including South Africa from the material first used) is an article of stationery that is used for removing marks from paper or skin (e.g. parchment or vellum). Erasers have ...

'', and '' The Fugitive'' on DVD in Japan and on March 24, 1997, in the United States with ''Blade Runner'' also being a launch title for the region there. Warner Bros. executive

Warren Lieberfarb Warren N. Lieberfarb (born September 28, 1943) is Chairman of Warren N. Lieberfarb & Associates, LLC (WNLA), a boutique consulting and investment firm based in Los Angeles focused on digital media technology and distribution. Biography Lieberfarb ...

is often seen as "the father of DVD". Lieberfarb's successor, Warner Bros. executive

James F. Cardwell James F. ("Jim") Cardwell is an entertainment industry consultant. He served as president of Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home E ...

was recognized in paving the way for WHV's strategic positioning in next generation technologies such as High Definition DVD (

HD DVD HD DVD (short for High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) is an obsolete high-density optical disc format for storing data and playback of high-definition video. Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the ...

), electronic sell-through and portable video. In 2003, Warner Home Video became the first home video releasing company to release movies only on DVD with no VHS equivalent. In 2009, Warner Home Video introduced the

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inten ...

, which allows the public to order custom-made DVDs of rarely seen films and TV series from the Warner and Turner libraries. The films are also available as digital downloads. Warner Archive DVDs and downloads can be ordered online on Warner's website, on Amazon.com or

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

-affiliated DVD website Movies Unlimited. On January 14, 2020,

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced that they would partner on a 10-year multinational joint-venture, merging their physical operations in North America. On April 7, 2020, the European Commission approved the merger. The company was later named Studio Distribution Services, LLC.

References

External links

WarnerBros.com , Home Entertainment , Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiaries 1978 establishments in California Companies based in Burbank, California Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies established in 1978 Home video companies established in 1978 Home video companies of the United States Home video distributors Mass media companies established in 1978 1978 establishments in the United States