Includes bibliographical references (p. [227]-235) and index.

Machine generated contents note: Acknowledgments ix -- Signs of the Time -- The American Film Industry before Video 5 -- The American Film Industry and Video lo -- The Political Economy of Distribution 14 -- Video and the Audience 17 -- Structure of the Study 18 -- 23 Film Distribution and Home Viewing before the VCR -- A Brief Review of the Early Days of the Movie Industry 24 -- From Universal Audiences to Feature-Length Films 26 -- Movies at Home 28 -- Tiered Releasing 29 -- Broadcasting: The Other Entertainment Medium 31 -- Postwar Film Exhibition 36 -- Distributing Films to Smaller Audiences 39 -- Television Advertising and Jaws: Marketing the Shark Wide -- and Deep 44 -- 48 The Development of Video Recording -- Broadcast Networks and Recording Technology 51 -- Television and Recording 55 -- Home Video 1: Playback-only Systems 60 -- Home Video 2: Japanese Recorder System Development 70 -- 76 Home Video:The Early Years -- Choice, "Harried" Leisure, and New Technologies 77 -- The Emergence of Cable 81 -- The Universal Lawsuit 82 -- VCR and Subversion 91 -- X-rated Cassettes 92 -- The Majors Start Video Distribution 95 -- Videotape Pricing 95 -- Renting 98 -- 104 The Years of Independence: 1981-1986 -- Independence on the Cusp of Video 105 -- New Companies Get into Video Business 106 -- Hollywood Tries to Control Rentals no -- Video, Theater, and Cable 116 -- Pre-Selling/Pre-Buying 121 -- Video and New Genres 125 -- Vestron's Video Publishing 127 -- Conclusion 129 -- 131 Video Becomes Big Business -- The Development of Two-Tiered Pricing 132 -- The New Movie Theater 135 -- Microeconomics i: Overview 138 -- Microeconomics 2: Rental 141 -- Video and Other Commodities 145 -- Retailing Consolidation 146 -- Breadth versus Depth 149 -- Video Advertising 151 -- Video and Revenue Streams 152 -- Production Increase 154 -- More Money, Same Product 154 -- 158 Consolidation and Shakeouts -- High Concept 161 -- Disney Comes Back On-line 162 -- The Majors Hold the Line on Production Expansion 165 -- Vestron Responds 171 -- The Fate of Pre-Selling and the Mini-Majors 176 -- LIVE, Miramax, and New Line 180 -- Conclusion 183 -- 185 The Lessons of the Video Revolution -- Media Industries after the VCR 185 -- Home Video and Changes in the Form of Film 194 -- Images of Audience Time 200 -- A Philosophic View of Film and Audience 202 -- Whither the Mass Audience? 204 -- Notes 207 -- Bibliography 227 -- Index 237.