VidAmerica
New York, New York | |
Key people | Al Markim |
|---|---|
| Products | VHS |
VidAmerica was a
videocassettes through mail, which led to failure where each week, tapes kept disappearing somewhere in the postal system, much to the chagrin of VidAmerica executives as they considered stamping the packages a "nuclear waste" before giving up on long-distance retail.[1]
During its lifetime, VidAmerica distributed
Warner Home Video in December 1981.[6][7]) It also distributed a few of Avco Embassy's titles, but the relationship didn't last long.[8]
VidAmerica also offered other video products (such as blank videotapes) and services (such as film-to-tape transfers). According to VidAmerica president
Oh Calcutta!". The company even did offer a few soft-porn adult movies like Emanuelle in Bangkok, despite Markim's insistence that VidAmerica would never market hard-core pornography or X-rated films.[3]
In 1983, VidAmerica signed a pact with Vestron Video, in which Vestron would handle exclusive US distribution, marketing and sales of all releases from the former.[9] These duties for VidAmerica's releases were later handled by Vestron's Lightning Video subsidiary.[10][11] In 1987, it broke off from Vestron, and launched its own home video distribution banner.[12]
In 1986, the company was purchased by a consortium controlled by billionaire investor
New World Entertainment). The acquisitions of the company and Four Star were Compact Video's attempts to restructure the debts of Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes (which owns 40% of Compact), with a combined revenue of $50 million for Compact, Four Star and VidAmerica. Unfortunately, it didn't generate as much as Perelman's other assets since most of Compact's other revenue came from acquiring a drugstore chain, so a few years after that, it had to be liquidated, with VidAmerica being split from the company as an independent again, but still under Perelman's ownership.[13][14][15][16] In 1992, VidAmerica ceased operations, and president Al Markim sold the VidAmerica library of some 150 titles to Sterling Entertainment/United American Video Corporation.[5]
References
- ^ Zacks, Richard (6 May 1988). "You can shop by mail for hard to find titles". Evening Tribune. San Diego. p. C2.
In the late 1970s Vidamerica was trying to pioneer the concept of renting videocassettes through the mail, but the tiny company ran into a huge roadblock. Week after week tapes kept disappearing somewhere in the postal system. Company execs were so exasperated that they considered stamping the packages "nuclear waste" before giving up on long-distance rental.
- ^ a b New York Times The Times of the Seventies: The Culture, Politics, and Personalities that Shaped the Decade. Hachette Books. 28 November 1992. p. 64.
- ^ a b Bins, Chuck (23 December 1980). "VCR revolution to provide wide selection for TV viewers". New Castle News. New Castle, PA. p. 8.
- ^ "Panorama TV Magazine". American Radio History.
- ^ ISSN 0006-2510.
- ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ "Happy Birthday VHS, Part II: The Forgotten Pioneers (Part I: Intervision)*". MovieMail. 19 February 2013.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
- ISSN 0006-2510.
- ISSN 0006-2510.
- ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ McCallugh, Jim; Stewart, Al (June 27, 1987). "newsline" (PDF). Billboard. p. 58. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
- ^ "Compact Video Seeks Chain of Drugstores". Los Angeles Times. 8 February 1986.
- ^ Sandler, Linda (2 December 1986). "Compact Video Arouses Curiosity as a Vehicle For Moves Within Ronald Perelman's Empire". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "Compact Changes Direction: Drugstores Are Now Entertainment Firm's Mainstay". Los Angeles Times. 21 July 1987.
- ^ "Reasons Emerge for the Liquidation of Compact Video". Los Angeles Times. 22 December 1987.
