Streaming was supposed to kill DVDs – but a new generation is slowing down and taking back control

The decline in popularity of physical media robbed us of a gift idea for friends and relatives who are hard to buy for – and that is unforgivable. But the usurping of DVD and Blu-ray by streaming services has much broader consequences than that.

The loss of a secondary safety net for films and TV shows has made Hollywood more risk-averse in its commissioning, while the very concept of media access and ownership is being threatened by increasingly ethereal digital ecosystems.

For example, Sony caused an outcry this summer when it deleted 551 films from its PlayStation Store over a lapsed licensing agreement, leaving some customers with nothing to show for their spent cash. Refunds were not offered.

The incident followed mass delisting events on HBO Max and Disney+, affecting sci-fi dramas Westworld and Raised by Wolves, Lucasfilm revival Willow and Danny Boyle's music biopic Pistol, among dozens more.

Sometimes, these nomad titles find refuge elsewhere, but in other cases they don't – and when hard copies on DVD or Blu-ray are scarce or non-existent, it reduces them to the status of 'lost media'.

The nightmarish fate should be consigned to a bygone era when the BBC would simply toss out its original Doctor Who footage to make space – after all, who will miss it?

The move towards digital impermanence is something that a new generation are greeting with fury and disquiet, as it raises questions about the rights of individuals and the protection of artistic expression.

"It's like the noose is tightening around what you're able to physically own and how you get to preserve information," condemned Eden, 28, who restarted collecting physical media in 2023.

"A portion of my collection is queer media, unheard voices and banned literature, and I specifically hold on to these because of how troubling things can get.

"I've learned enough history to feel that these concerns are valid," they conclude, "even for things like movies and TV – they're all connected and we have to be aware of that."

Tito Guizar, 33, is equally unsettled by the sudden disappearance of films and TV episodes from streaming, as well as the practice of re-editing post-release, which risks "losing track of the director's vision".

This is, in part, why he has amassed upwards of 1300 physical releases in a media library dubbed Tito G's Video Vault, telling Radio Times that "archiving" is his primary motivation.

"I felt an uptick in my collecting when I started seeing articles about [scenes being changed]," he explained. "I owe it to myself to have the best possible version of a movie, especially obscure ones that are not easy to find."

At the time of our chat, a Blu-ray box set of Stranger Things was on order; a Netflix series that creators Matt and Ross Duffer have admitted to retroactively tweaking (or "George Lucas-ing," in their own words, recalling the backlash to his Star Wars 'Special Editions').

Admirably, Tito is just as passionate about backing up these kinds of omnipresent mainstream titles as he is his own personal favourites, such as Sam Raimi's 1990 cult classic Darkman, which he owns on a deluxe 4KUHD format.

Angeline Richard, 26, has felt the sting of losing access to media of great sentimental value, citing Nickelodeon animated series As Told By Ginger as a formative watch.

"Back in the 2000s, it did not have much attention," she explained. "It's a very small fanbase, but the show is so dear to my heart.

Want to see this content?

This page contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Instagram may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Instagram and its required purposes.

"The DVDs are super-hard to come by [and] Paramount+ took it off their streaming service, so everybody was scavenging. There's no official complete set."

The series was pulled from the streaming platform as part of a wider purge of Nickelodeon titles towards the end of 2024 (via Deadline), rendering it inaccessible by legal means in some regions of the world.

Fortunately for Angeline, she recently stumbled upon a VHS collection of the final episodes while visiting a local thrift store.

"It felt like you could hear the trumpets and see the heavenly glow," she recalled of the moment she laid eyes on the mythical tape.

Angeline owns – and taught herself how to fix – several VHS players, which are recurring stars of her retro-inspired Instagram and TikTok videos, paying tribute to the tech and pop culture of yesteryear.

"I really did not expect the engagement that I have," she told Radio Times. "It's not like I started posting for a career – it was just a hobby."

Want to see this content?

This page contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Instagram may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Instagram and its required purposes.

But Angeline's success is evidence of the growing interest in physical media among younger people, whom she now helps guide (even though the influx has caused some second-hand prices to rise).

Her top piece of advice: "You don't need to buy everything at once. That takes away from the idea of a slow pace of living and trying to lower overconsumption. My collection was curated over time."

For Angeline, retro is the name of the game, making her a frequenter of thrift stores, eBay and other second hand sellers when seeking out treasures.

But physical media isn't reliant on the remnants of its heyday, with a number of prestige labels turning the humble optical disc into a stylish, must-have item.

The Criterion Collection arguably leads the way in terms of cultural cachet, owing to its arthouse catalogue, often perused by A-list stars for the brand's viral online series.

But they aren't the only major player, with the likes of Second Sight, Arrow Video and 88Films also restoring cult classics for high-definition re-releases.

"They do that very important job of making sure movies are properly restored and properly presented," said Tito. "It's a service that no one else is doing – the major studios don't seem to be too interested in that."

Tito grew up in the golden age of physical media and developed a love for bonus features detailing the filmmaking process; they put him on a path that led to film school.

It disappoints him that such extras have largely been relegated to specialist labels or deluxe editions, with major studios minimally supplementing their mass market releases.

These no-frills discs find it "difficult" to compete with streaming, according to HMV managing director Phil Halliday, but the trendier alternatives are enjoying "growing demand".

Chris Holden, managing director at Second Sight, added that crafting original bonus offerings is "one of the most enjoyable parts of the business," but "the quality of the feature presentation itself" is the "most important thing" for their core audience.

"In recent years, we have become more involved in the restoration side of the business," he explained. "We have produced many new 4K restorations, which have been extremely well received, and our customers trust us to release films in the best possible quality."

In a year when movie buffs have fought to secure limited IMAX tickets for spectacles like Project Hail Mary and The Odyssey, it stands to reason that they might also want a hint of that cinematic purity at home.

For some, streaming doesn't come close.

"We were watching Arcane on Netflix," Eden said of their initial wake-up call. "It's completely stunning, but Netflix's bitrate was not doing it any favours whatsoever."

For the uninitiated, a video's bitrate affects the quality of the stream, and Eden is certainly not the first to argue that Netflix's can be underwhelming (especially for those cursed with an unstable wi-fi connection).

So, when a striking still from Hungarian animation Son of the White Mare appeared on their social media feed, Eden knew there was only one way to see the film in all its glory; it was the first Blu-ray disc they'd bought since they were a teenager.

The obscurity of the title also prompted reflection on what other gems may have gone unnoticed by the soulless algorithms that gate-keep what we see online.

"It opened my eyes to the fact that I hadn't been allowing myself to explore what film could be as freely," they added. "I was just relying on flipping through a streaming service – where I was getting subpar image quality."

Tito has also been troubled by the idea of being a passive partner to streaming algorithms; primarily designed to hold attention and retain subscribers, rather than to champion challenging or surprising art. (Although, on occasion, both are possible.)

"If you watch a movie on streaming, it's already recommending another movie [at the end]," he said. "How are you going to tell me what I like? It feels intrusive. Sometimes I like to take a chance on something random."

Disentangling oneself from addictive algorithms and ready-made recommendations is empowering. You cease to become a consumer of content and resume using your leisure hours deliberately. It's what Angeline describes as a "slow-paced life".

HMV managing director Halliday encouraged people to "allocate time" for purposeful viewing choices, while resisting the reflexive "park your bum on the sofa and watch whatever's being streamed".

"It's a practice that you can enjoy and savour," he continued.

Physical spaces are just as worthy of protection as physical media, with HMV propping up both as the last major brick-and-mortar proprietor in the UK.

"I think there are plenty of younger shoppers who see value in physical media and in spending time in spaces with other like-minded individuals," said Halliday. "We've started to see them coming back in big numbers."

The chain's more troublesome times were lacking this youthful contingent, in part due to the void created by the first great migration from physical to digital.

"Some of our store managers have been with us for 35 years, so they've seen a lot of the ups and downs in the company's history," he began. "Someone made a really good point to me: when CD singles were replaced with downloads entirely, you lost the pocket money product that used to bring the kids in."

Today, these have been replaced by the growth in pop culture merchandise and collectibles, which are boosting footfall among under 16s; Halliday views them as the potential physical media collectors of tomorrow.

In an era when the online shopping ecosystem – propped up by exhausting (and often poorly paid) labour – has left many British high streets a shell of themselves, supporting physical stores is arguably intertwined with the fight for physical media.

The ascendant stylishness of this time-honoured tradition has connections to the unsavoury habits of today's Big Tech giants, which include – but are not limited to – the editing or delisting of beloved films and TV programmes.

It comes from a sincere desire to protect beloved art and to enjoy it in the finest form we can, with prominent voices from Christopher Nolan to Tom Cruise advocating for quality both in and outside of the home.

The all-you-can-eat buffet of streaming inevitably makes compromises, and these are becoming harder to ignore.

Two of the most complained about — the rising cost of subscriptions and the unwelcome return of adverts — are, ironically, themselves examples of how the entertainment industry is reverting to older models that worked.

Where streamers are increasingly viewed as reskinned cable TV providers, physical media is simply the same as it ever was: reliable, accessible, and dare we say it, fun.

The ritual of taking a box off the shelf is without a digital equivalent, argued Angeline.

"I'm taking off the slip cover, I'm looking through it – sometimes they have insert cards promoting stuff from the 2000s... It gives me time to just stay off of my phone and be present in what I'm doing.

"You're living a slow-paced life for a moment, and it feels really good."

Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Add shows to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.