At the height of professional tape usage, most TV programming was physically delivered to individual stations on reels of tape. The three major networks, alone, had around 670 stations across the country. In addition to much of the network programming, each station needed individual copies of network advertisem*nts delivered to them on tape. Massive numbers of video copies (“dubs”) were produced each and every month to service the industry.
In 1962, the world's first active communications satellite, Telstar 1, was launched. This had little immediate impact but was the harbinger of things to come. As additional communications satellites were launched and the technology improved, more and more content started to be delivered by satellite during the late 70’s and 80’s. By the 1990’s, most TV content was being delivered by satellite.
Consequently, the number of facilities that produced tape copies for distribution significantly diminished during the 80’s, as there was far less call for their product. By the 1990’s, the majority of these facilities were gone. With their demise, extensive inventories of recording and playback equipment were consigned to landfills, as few saw the need to collect the machinery and preserve it for future use. The professional facilities that survived did smaller duplicating jobs and/or were high-end editing and post-production houses.
The next major blow to the professional tape houses was the advent of new, low-cost editing software called “Final Cut” in 1999. Where video editing traditionally required very expensive software that only professional organizations could afford, this new software could be purchased for a fraction of the cost. Professional facilities could not compete economically with these new “in-house” and “garage” operations. Many more facilities closed down and even more of their machinery was lost.
By this time, more people were aware of the growing danger of machine obsolescence. However, while many lamented the loss of equipment, too few enough took steps acquire and preserve it. This was aggravated by the fact that, as demand for a tape format decreased, facilities stopped servicing their older machines and much of their obsolete equipment was non-functional or in poor repair when they shut down.
Also during this time, the industry was influenced by a change in focus from professional to consumer formats. VHS arrived in 1976, followed by 8mm in ‘85 and DV in ’95. Manufacturers responded to exploding homeowner demand by focusing on consumer products that were less costly to produce and could be sold in huge volumes. Of course, over time, consumers considered each of these formats to be outdated and rarely stockpiled their old equipment. Additionally, because consumer machines are not as well-built as professional models they are harder (or impossible) to repair and more machinery was lost to future use.
This trend worsened with developments in the digital world. By 2000, consumer cameras were available that didn’t use tape and by 2010, many cell phones had tapeless digital cameras. As manufacturers focused on selling millions of cameras and recorders utilizing the latest tapeless technology, support of obsolete consumer tape machines virtually disappeared.
Responding to these changes in technology, the remaining tape-based facilities continued to suffer: one study estimated that between 2000 and 2010, over 43% of the remaining professional tape facilities in the US closed. With a number of the surviving professional facilities operating on a vastly reduced scale and/or a minimal profit margin, it would take just one more setback to close them down. Sony, the largest remaining manufacturer of magnetic tape, consolidated all tape manufacturing to a single location in Japan. In March 2011, a major tsunami hit Japan and seriously damaged the factory. Tape product became scarce, prices for existing stockpiles rose and, in many instances, tape was simply not available. More facilities shut down.
This is now a true crisis, moving from critical to “near terminal” with each passing year. Most tape machines that were built for older formats no longer exist. Repair and support for the remaining machines is increasingly unavailable. The facilities with the machinery and knowledge to transfer your obsolete tapes are closing down. While there is still a small window of time to transfer the recordings archived on magnetic tape it is closing fast. Soon, it will be too late.
