Home video

Home video is pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented or streamed for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotape, but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital distribution such as Netflix.

The home video business distributes films, telemovies and television series in the form of videos in various formats to the public. These are either bought or rented, then watched privately from the comfort of home by consumers. Most theatrically released films are now released on digital media, both optical (DVD or Blu-ray) and download-based, replacing the largely obsolete VHS (Video Home System) medium. The VCD format remains popular in Asia, though DVDs are gradually gaining popularity.

History

Prior to the arrival of home video as a popular medium in the late 1970s, most feature films were essentially inaccessible to the public after their original theatrical runs were over. Some very popular films were given occasional theatrical re-releases, some could be seen in urban revival houses and the screening rooms of a handful of archives and museums, and beginning in the 1950s most could be expected to turn up on television eventually, but interrupted by commercials and very possibly at an inconvenient or impossible viewing time. During this era, it was also the norm that television programs could only be viewed at the time of broadcast. Viewers were accustomed to the fact that there was no normal way to record TV shows at home and watch them whenever desired. Many observed that such a capability would be desirable.

MGM Home Entertainment

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC is the home video arm of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

History

The home video division of MGM started in 1979 as MGM Home Video, releasing all the movies and TV shows by MGM. In 1980, MGM joined forces with CBS Video Enterprises, the home video division of the CBS television network, and established MGM/CBS Home Video. In October of that year, they released their first batch of Betamax and VHS tapes: The Wizard of Oz, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Doctor Zhivago, Ben-Hur, That's Entertainment!, Network, Coma, The Dirty Dozen, An American in Paris, The Sunshine Boys, Blowup, Meet Me in St. Louis, A Night at the Opera, Adam's Rib, Jailhouse Rock, Tom and Jerry, The Boys in the Band, Rude Boy, Rio Lobo, The Street Fighter, Electric Light Orchestra in Concert, James Taylor In Concert, The Nutcracker, and Giselle.

The initial printings of all 24 films were packaged in brown leather clamshell cases with gold lettering; they were presented to CBS executives. Later printings of these films, as well as all printings of later releases by MGM/CBS, were packaged in oversized gray book boxes with either the MGM Abstract Lion print logo or CBS Video print logo in the upper right hand corner of the packaging. MGM/CBS also issued some early tapes of Lorimar product; those releases would instead bear the Lorimar print logo where the MGM or CBS Video print logo would normally be.

Home

A home is a dwelling-place used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for an individual, family, household or several families in a tribe. It is often a house, apartment, or other building, or alternatively a mobile home, houseboat, yurt or any other portable shelter. Homes typically provide areas and facilities for sleeping, preparing food, eating and hygiene. Larger groups may live in a nursing home, children's home, convent or any similar institution. A homestead also includes agricultural land and facilities for domesticated animals. Where more secure dwellings are not available, people may live in the informal and sometimes illegal shacks found in slums and shanty towns. More generally, "home" may be considered to be a geographic area, such as a town, village, suburb, city, or country.

Transitory accommodation in a treatment facility for a few weeks is not normally considered permanent enough to replace a more stable location as 'home'. In 2005, 100 million people worldwide were estimated to be homeless.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (abbreviated as MGM or M-G-M, also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, or simply Metro) is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs.

Once the largest, most glamorous, and most revered film studio, MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California. It is one of the oldest mini-major film studios and a former major film studio.

In 1971, it was announced that MGM would merge with 20th Century Fox, a plan which never came into fruition. Over the next thirty-nine years, the studio was bought and sold at various points in its history until, on November 3, 2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MGM emerged from bankruptcy on December 20, 2010, at which time the executives of Spyglass Entertainment, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, became co-Chairmen and co-CEOs of the holding company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Entertainment

Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience, or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousands of years specifically for the purpose of keeping an audience's attention. Although people's attention is held by different things, because individuals have different preferences in entertainment, most forms are recognisable and familiar. Storytelling, music, drama, dance, and different kinds of performance exist in all cultures, were supported in royal courts, developed into sophisticated forms and over time became available to all citizens. The process has been accelerated in modern times by an entertainment industry which records and sells entertainment products. Entertainment evolves and can be adapted to suit any scale, ranging from an individual who chooses a private entertainment from a now enormous array of pre-recorded products; to a banquet adapted for two; to any size or type of party, with appropriate music and dance; to performances intended for thousands; and even for a global audience.