Early history (1978–1991)
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment was established in June 1978 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, and released 20 titles in November 1979.[5] Its first 20 titles were licensed and distributed by Time-Life Video, a unit of Time-Life Films, but the relationship didn't last long, and Columbia formed its own distribution arm.[6]
In March 1981, Columbia Pictures established a joint venture with RCA, RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video, to distribute tapes in overseas markets. The partnership expanded to North America as RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video the following year; this was in part to give RCA's CED videodisc format a steady stream of titles.[7][8][9] The venture distributed NBC titles, as it was a subsidiary of RCA at the time. When Tri-Star Pictures was formed in 1982, RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video became one of the three primary distributors of Tri-Star product for home video (the other two being CBS/Fox Video and Thorn-EMI/HBO Video {later renamed to HBO/Cannon Video and then simply HBO Video}, as CBS and HBO originally held stakes in Tri-Star), and fully assumed distribution of TriStar titles in the early 1990s. In Australia, they signed a deal to distribute releases from Hoyts Distribution and formed a longstanding relationship in August 1983.
They also distributed titles from various other film companies related to Columbia, including most of New Line Cinema's theatrical releases (though not all, as Media Home Entertainment and Family Home Entertainment distributed several New Line films during the Columbia deal). New Line formed their own video label in 1990 (the result of acquiring Nelson Entertainment, which had previously been Embassy Home Entertainment, itself a former Columbia subsidiary), but continued to go through RCA/Columbia Pictures (as well as SVS-Triumph and then Columbia TriStar Home Video) for distribution until 1994, when Turner Broadcasting acquired New Line and Turner Home Entertainment assumed distribution functions. Other companies distributed by RCA/Columbia included Weintraub Entertainment and 21st Century Distribution.
In 1987, once pre-existing distribution deals had expired, Tri-Star Pictures announced that it would be launching a home video unit, Tri-Star Video, with Saul Melnick, a former MGM/UA Home Video employee, as its president.[10] In 1988, after Coca-Cola sold its entertainment business, Tri-Star Video was merged into RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video.[11] In late 1989, it was rumored that Trans World Entertainment would eventually sign a deal with RCA/Columbia to distribute its titles.[12][13] This rumor bore fruit by that December when a deal with TWE -- which had by this point become a part of Epic Productions, which struck a separate distribution deal with RCA/Columbia not long before -- was officially announced.[14]
as Columbia TriStar Home Video (1991–2001)
In March 1990, NBC filed a lawsuit against Columbia and its then-new parent company Sony under the perception that the latter two parties were violating their joint pact. Columbia purchased the foreign video rights to Orion Pictures titles a month earlier. NBC alleged that they were unaware of this transaction and had become convinced that Columbia was forming their own video unit in strict defiance of the joint venture, which was set to expire in 1992. Sony and Columbia denied NBC's claims.[15] As the lawsuit continued into 1991, General Electric, the parent of NBC and RCA, announced that it was divesting its interest in RCA/Columbia.[16] The deal closed in August of that year and the litigation officially ended with Sony renaming the company as Columbia TriStar Home Video (CTHV).[17] In 1998, CTHV signed a deal with The Jim Henson Company to launch its own video label, Jim Henson Home Entertainment, with CTHV distributing; at the time, Columbia Pictures and Henson were also allied theatrically for the Jim Henson Pictures
as Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2001–present)
It was renamed as Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (CTHE) from April 2001 before adopting its current name; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE), in November 2004.[20]
In 2002, the home video division revived the Destination Films IP, name and logo from a defunct film distributor and repurposed as a production branch for most direct-to-video titles, with some DTV titles went under the TriStar Pictures and Triumph Films names as producing arms.[21] The home video production unit was spun off as Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions in 2007.[22]
SPHE had a three-year deal with Starz's Anchor Bay Entertainment
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
In 2005, when Sony and four partners acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) from Kirk Kerkorian, SPHE held the domestic home entertainment rights to MGM's 4,000 film and 10,400 television episode library, though the releases used the MGM DVD label. However, thanks to a cooling DVD market, sales did not meet projections; this was one of several factors that led to MGM splitting off from Sony Pictures' control. On May 31, 2006, MGM ended its distribution deal with SPHE and transferred most of its output to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.[40][41] The MGM fiasco directly led to long time SPHE president Ben Feingold's departure in the fall of 2006, and was replaced by, ironically, MGM Home Entertainment executive Dave Bishop, who brought along numerous MGM employees to replace Sony staffers.[42]
In February 2011, Sony was in negotiations with MGM for a co-financing deal that would've included full distribution rights to the MGM Home Entertainment library; this deal, however, ultimately did not include home media rights to MGM's catalog (which instead remained with Fox), though Sony would distribute some of the films they co-financed on video as part of the deal.[43]
Recent history
In February 2024, it was reported that SPHE had reached an agreement to distribute all physical releases from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment in North America, who has begun to discontinue physical distribution entirely.[46][47]
On June 24, 2024, it was reported that SPHE had entered into a distribution deal with Studio Distribution Services, a joint venture between Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment. The deal would allow SDS to handle the physical distribution of titles from Sony Pictures as well as Disney, Lionsgate, and The Criterion Collection through their existing distribution deals with SPHE.[48]
