The state of physical media just became even more complicated.

The Digital Bits reported Tuesday that Disney is passing all responsibilities regarding the company’s production of physical media to Sony. Sony will now take over manufacturing, marketing, and distribution duties for all DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, and other physical media produced for Disney releases.

Disney will evaluate all internal business functions that support physical media production as the sector’s responsibilities get relinquished to Sony. It will later become clear if this deal will result in layoffs within Disney, which also announced that it will shut down its Disney Movie Club service. Since 2001, the service has provided Disney fans access to rare and limited edition titles. It is unclear whether some of these titles will make it to Disney Plus.

The market for physical media has declined significantly in recent years. In 2017, the total revenue of Blu-Ray and DVD sales was over $4.7 billion. It fell to $1.5 billion in 2022. In the first half of 2023, revenue decreased to $754 million; the same period in 2022 had brought in $1.05 billion. Now, the market’s revenue is estimated to drop below $1 million for the first time in 2024.

The downfall of physical media is correlated to the rise of streaming services like Netflix, Max, and Disney Plus. Streaming is convenient to consumers yet more costly for studios and less lucrative than physical media. Price hikes and, most recently, the incorporation of ad-supported tiers demonstrate the market viability of the services.

Netflix’s decision to terminate its mail-order DVD and Blu-Ray rentals, the service that launched the company that is now worth nearly $250 billion, paved the way for another loss that physical media collectors will mourn. Once the 2023 shopping season concluded, Best Buy, a previous retail pillar of physical media, shuttered its sale of Blu-Ray discs and DVDs. 

Update Courtesy of Evan Miller

Feature Image Courtesy of JoBlo