Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
Television

Paris DVD Rental Store in Last Stand Against Streaming Giants (reuters.com) 44

Posted by msmash from the dying-species dept.
An anonymous reader shares a report: JM Video, one of only two remaining DVD rental stores in Paris, is a focal point for film lovers and visited by actors like Brad Pitt when they are in the city, but the ever-growing competition of streaming platforms means this Paris institution is fighting for survival. Choice is not the problem: JM Video has a library of more than 50,000 films, more than some 5,000 on offer at any time on Netflix and more than the catalogues of all the major streaming actors combined. "It's one of the few places in Paris with a real film collection, you can find things here that you cannot find anywhere else," said movie buff Virginie Breton, who rents DVDs several times a week. But not enough to keep JM Video afloat.

Sky-high Paris property rents and a dwindling customer base, combined with the arrival of ever-more streaming services like Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+ and Apple TV+ are squeezing the life out of the cave-like shop, where DVDs spill out from floor-to-ceiling racks. Founded in 1982, JM Video was one of around 5,000 video rental shops in France at the end of last century, well before Netflix switched from being a DVD rental outfit to a streaming pioneer around 2010. Now, France has only about 10 DVD rental shops, two of which are in Paris.
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Paris DVD Rental Store in Last Stand Against Streaming Giants More

Paris DVD Rental Store in Last Stand Against Streaming Giants

Comments Filter:
  • I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere the French motto is, "Never surrender!"

    Be brave you lone two Paris video stores.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 )
      the French motto is, "Never surrender!"

      They were joking.

    • They tried that, briefly.

      Then they gave up . . .

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Saffaya ( 702234 )

        So, just like the US in Vietnam?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by hawk ( 1151 )

          ??

          the real tragedy of Viet Nam was that the US achieved *exactly* what it set out to do--which was a really stupid thing to do and waste lives upon.

          The mission was *not* to defeat the north Vietnamese, but to keep them on their side of an imaginary line. US troops that went over the line got called back.

          When the US finally decided it wanted to stop playing, the north wouldn't let them simply leave. To get them to talk, the US bombed them into submission, for crying out loud.

          By any *military* standard, Vie

  • Everybody hates BluRay the name (Score:3)

    by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) on Friday September 19, 2025 @09:21AM (#65670458)

    I know some people are still rocking 480p DVD's but its 2025 and most films are in HD resolution on BluRay but I do enjoy that DVD has remained the common parlance for disc based video. It'd just a better name.

    Bluray may have won the format war but HD-DVD should have remained the name, it's just more natural. Of course watching this years ago I still find myself saying "doovde" [youtube.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by bjoast ( 1310293 )

      Yo, wanna watch it at my place on eichdeedeeveedee?

      Yeah, great name...

    • Re:Everybody hates BluRay the name (Score:5, Funny)

      by Gavino ( 560149 ) on Friday September 19, 2025 @09:41AM (#65670492)
      Given that it is French, maybe they call it, "Sacre Bleu-ray!"

    • I just checked and it looks like they do carry plenty of blu ray, the article is just using bad language. I've seen this before (using the term DVD for any physically video media) which is why I thought to check.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by skam240 ( 789197 )

      Oops, you were saying as such. Sorry I'm killing time waiting for something and am only kind of paying attention to my phone. Time to stop posting.

    • In France, DVDs are 576p, not 480p, and high-bitrate 480p and 576p can look better than bitrate-starved 720p full of blurred-out details and compression artifacts (that you typically get on streaming), and can look better even compared to bitrate-starved 1080p (that you also get on streaming occasionally).

      I mean, a DVD typically has a bitrate of 7Mbps (MPEG-2), which translates to 2.8Mbps for MPEG-4 AVC. How many streaming platforms use 2.8MBps for 720p? None. Even some 1080p fails to hit 2.8Mbps average

    • I am actually going to post my own correction but according to this https://www.reddit.com/r/DataH... [reddit.com]

      The number of published Bluray titles in 2023 is just over 39k and for DVDs is over 290k which is a way larger disparity than I had considered since BD has been around for almost 20 years now so keep rocking those DVDs

  • There's a chain with stores in Idaho, Texas, Tennessee, and most states in between that rents, sells, and buys DVDs, Blu-rays, and more.

    • Does it have a name?

      • Vintage Stock is one of those middle of the country stores. They sell more than movies but that's a large chunk of the stores.
        Think a non-shit GameStop store.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dbialac ( 320955 )
      I've read that DVD is making a comeback. People can buy the movies they like on eBay for cheap and not have to pay a monthly fee or risk losing access to a movie they want to see that was previously included but now has to be purchased.

      • I've read that DVD is making a comeback.

        Probably, because of the cover art. But, what about all the clicks and pops?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jonwil ( 467024 )

        I still buy DVDs for my collection (although not on eBay, I buy mine mostly from a big charity book sale that also sells DVDs and things)

        Much cheaper to buy the entire series of Breaking Bad that way than to buy a new whole-series box set or watch it on streaming. Same with some other TV series I picked up. And all the James Bond films (although I still haven't found For Your Eyes Only locally)

  • Sigh (Score:4, Insightful)

    by excelsior_gr ( 969383 ) on Friday September 19, 2025 @09:55AM (#65670518)
    So, you are telling me there is a place where the subscription costs nothing, you pay as you watch, and the catalogue is larger than everybody else's combined? Where do I sign up?

  • Rental? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I can buy old DVDs for $1.50 a piece. Then I can rewatch or share them at my leisure. Not much reason to rent a DVD.
    • DVD rentals are like prostitutes. You don't pay to be able to have them. You pay for them to leave afterwards.

      • DVD rentals are like prostitutes. You don't pay to be able to have them. You pay for them to leave afterwards.

        Yeah, but ripping DVD's is kinda socially acceptable, whereas ripping prostitutes is frowned upon and is wrong in every way.

    • This is to rent DVDs of shit you can't find for sale except ebay.
      Shit that was kinda underground when it came out 50 years ago kinda stuff.
      I will say streaming services have gotten better about obscure films but:

      There are currently no streaming services offering "Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom" for online streaming in the US or the Philippines, and likely other markets as well. The film is not available on popular platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime for streaming. It may be available for purchase or rent, but no specific streaming inclusion was found.

      I will say that was my 2nd try to stump it.

  • DVD's are retro? When did that happen?

    Dammit, I must be old! ;-)

    • I remember when Blu Rays often also came with the DVD, and then 4ks often came with the Blu Ray but now even some of the 4ks are only that disc in the pack. Which reminds me I need to get something that can run libredrive sometime so I can archive 4ks.

  • It seems as if the younger generation, as well as cutting edge communities are all getting back into physical media. Itâ(TM)s definitely a trend.
    There are video stores opening up in some places again, so one can hope this place catches that wave

Slashdot Top Deals

Contemptuous lights flashed flashed across the computer's console. -- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Close