Video discs will no longer be sold at Best Buy

[Jamie]

https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-t ... 01223-1100

[Pauven]

I have fond memories of browsing Best Buy's shelves for movies to add to my collection. But in the past decade I've only bought from them a few times. Amazon and Ebay seem to get the vast majority of my Blu-ray biz. So it doesn't really surprise me that Best Buy is exiting this frontier, floor space is just too valuable. Though I envision the new store layout looking more and more like Circuit City near the end, wide open and empty feeling, leaving you wondering why they still exist.

With the death of Netflix DVD and now Best Buy's disc sales, and Disney no longer selling DVDs and Blu-rays in Australia and New Zealand, Latin America and some Asian markets, I'm getting worried that the end of physical media is approaching.

Not only can companies like Disney paywall their collection inside their streaming services, they can jack up prices anytime they want too. I was just notified a few days ago that my Disney annual subscription cost will DOUBLE in November, so I will be cancelling it in a few weeks.

I missed out on the Marvel Infinity Saga 4K collector's edition (and the second-hand prices are utter ridiculous!), and I've really been holding out hoping for a Phase 3 set to be released. But I might just have to pick up the 4K movie editions individually to complete my collection before it is too late...

[Jamie]

I've also heard that Disney and all the other studios are losing a lot of money in streaming too. Going to movie theaters seem to be becoming unpopular. I haven't been in a theater since the last star wars movie.. Where will this lead?

[Jamie]

Some hope?

https://cordcuttersnews.com/walmart-rep ... -business/

[Pauven]

It makes me uneasy to have such a large retailer at the reins controlling distribution of media. They could make it unprofitable for other retail shops to sell certain studios, further shrinking landscape. It seems possible that Walmart could position itself as the sole remaining retailer for all physical media - something I'm sure they'd love, but wouldn't necessarily be to our benefit. While it seems nice that companies are willing to invest in physical media, I fear these moves only hasten its demise.