2 Entertain Video Ltd. (doing business as BBC Studios Home Entertainment) is a British video and music publisher founded in 2004 following the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International.
History
BBC Video
BBC Video was established in 1980 as a division of BBC Enterprises (later BBC Worldwide) with John Ross Barnard at the head, just as home video systems were starting to gain ground.
At launch, the BBC had no agreement with British talent unions such as Equity or the Musician's Union (MU), so BBC Video was limited in the television programming it could release. Initially, video cassette and laser-disc releases were either programmes with no Equity or MU involvement, such as natural history and other documentaries, or material licensed from third parties, including feature films such as High Noon and the first video release of Deep Purple's California Jam concert.
For the first few years, the BBC produced videotapes in both VHS and Betamax formats. The company also worked with Philips on early Laserdisc releases, including a notable ornithology disc called British Garden Birds, presented by David Attenborough. This disc was published in 1982 and included digital data in the form of Teletext, which could be read by any suitably-equipped television. This pioneering use of a data channel on a consumer video format led directly to the development of the BBC Domesday Project in 1984–1986. Since videos could have stereo soundtracks, BBC Video produced stereophonic versions of many programmes that had been broadcast in mono. These included The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer.
The label grew significantly from £13 million turnover in 1989 to nearly £39 million in 1994, enjoying success from television and film serials which had proved popular when first televised and faced high demand for a video release once the new technology became widespread, reducing the need for television reruns.
In 1991, BBC Video was the number-one video label in the UK when it sold more prerecorded videotapes, by value as well as by unit count, than any other company, including all of the Hollywood studios combined.
Video Collection International
In October 1985, K-Tel and Braveworld, subsidiaries of the New Southgate-based Prestwich Group, in partnership with Paddy Toomey, launched "The Video Collection", a range of budget-priced video releases that were promoted as being "A video for the price of a blank tape" that would be sold at Woolworths stores across the country. Both Braveworld and The Video Collection were seen as sister labels, with The Video Collection mainly handling re-releases of classic films and special interest titles.
In 1986, Thames Television began releasing their home media products through The Video Collection, under the label "Thames Video Collection". On 16 July, Karl-Lorimar Home Video inked an agreement with The Video Collection in order to distribute children's, family and special interest programs for the British market, and would also release Scholastic-Lorimar Home Video releases for the whole entire British market. Shortly afterwards, The Video Collection underwent a management buyout and began operating independently through holding company Rushstage Limited (later renamed to "Future Vision Limited" and then again to "Video Collection International Limited" in 1987). With this, the company expanded rapidly, securing the market lead in retail video sales throughout the mid to late 1980s and into the early to mid-1990s.
In 1989, The Video Collection formed a North American subsidiary - Strand VCI Entertainment. In the same year in the UK, VCI launched the "Cinema Club" budget label, signing a deal with RCA Columbia Pictures International Video/Columbia TriStar Home Video to release their back catalogue. Also in the year, Central Independent Television subsidiary Central Video began distributing its products through The Video Collection, replacing Pickwick Video.
In 1992, Strand VCI Entertainment was renamed to Strand Home Video.
The "Strand VCI plc" subsidiary was rebranded simply to "VCI plc" beforehand in May 1993. In December 1993, VCI sold Strand Home Video to the Handleman Company, who eventually folded Strand into their Video Treasures division.