When movie rental stores came onto the scene, they were all the rage. It's no wonder why. Before they came along, most movies faded into obscurity once their theater runs were over and, if they did surface again, it was usually in a form which was time-compressed and edited in a way that made network broadcasters able to air the film, though in a very compromised an often much less involving form. Subscription television changed the playing field still further and offered advantages over the rental model of movie-watching.
Subscription television services got in on the movie business right away. The movie channels were among the first offerings and they increased in popularity quickly enough that there were soon several different channels available to subscribers. Within a few years, there were several different versions of each channel added to keep up with demand. While the subscription channels offered significant advantages over the network broadcasts—uncensored films, no cut-backs to save run time—they still required that the viewer operate on the channel's schedule. Video rental stores could still boast that they offered the consumer more choice in what they viewed.
Enter pay-per-view. This service allowed viewers to choose from a selection of films, usually very recent releases, and to buy the film for the day. This model is quite similar to the video rental store's model but carries with it the advantage that the consumer is not required to go to the store to purchase a video and, of course, is not required to run all the way back to the store to return the video. A bit more "green" than all the driving, pay-per-view also took off when special sporting events were added to the available offerings.
Fast forward a couple more years and the type of flexibility one expects more from the Internet than from their television has crossed those technological boundaries. Now, viewers are allowed to choose from an extensive list of movies and to watch them whenever they choose. This service even managed to outpace the video piracy that was, for a while, rampant on the Internet. By offering a better product at a low price, the subscription television companies have courted many viewers back to the legitimate forms of downloading movies. Of course, the audio and video quality on these films is much higher than on a pirated version which more than justifies the usually low price.
Rental stores, for better or for worse, are likely to go the route of analog television in the near future. As technology has increased in power, it's allowed consumers to use fewer resources and less money to get entertainment. No more driving to the store and back or waiting for a movie to show up in the mail. With the recording capabilities of DVR tuners, anyone can get a high quality copy of a film they want to watch but couldn't schedule into their day, as well, further putting pressure on the rental companies.
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