End Of An Era: Best Buy Will Cease Physical Media Sales In 2024 As Streaming Reigns Supreme

As streaming services continue to dominate entertainment retailer Best Buy is removing physical media from its shelves this year.

Back in the golden age of television you could pay one single bill and have access to hundreds of channels. Somehow we all agreed to this streaming thing and now pay for multiple services. If you speak to anyone you know most pay up to three different companies for access to their streaming library. Despite streaming adding more bills and being more expensive overall consumers are still abandoning physical media.

If every streaming app requires additional payment to be ad free then I’m not joking when I say there’s no point and we all might as well get satellite tv or cable again. This is absolutely terrible.

— ohsee (@kykymbjoonie) January 2, 2024

According to Consequence.net, Best Buy is delivering one of the biggest blows to traditional physical media. This year Best Buy will finally pull physical media from its shelves over lack of demand. The retailer has been one of the biggest suppliers of physical media with a moderate portion of their stores dedicated to discs. Additionally, the retailer has said the move would come eventually and that time is upon us.

This will mean no more “Blue Box Exclusive” DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, or 4K versions in-store or online.

“To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago,” Best Buy shared in a statement to The Associated Press. “Making this change gives us more space and opportunity to bring customers new and innovative tech for them to explore, discover and enjoy.”

Best buy will make it so these kids won’t even know what a DVD is pic.twitter.com/fFiQ9BU0TX

— Misko☂️🎈 (@Im_Misko) January 3, 2024

The shocking news comes only a few months after Netflix terminated its groundbreaking DVD-by-mail option that introduced the company to consumers. If you are a Blu-ray Disc enthusiast don’t fret as Walmart, Target, and Amazon will still carry physical media. Granted it will not be as extensive as Best Buy but at least options will still be available. Eventually, discs will be a thing of the past, or as it looks Amazon might be the only place to shop new releases eventually

If you have family that is still sticking to DVDs check on them as today’s news is a sad day for them. Unfortunately, this hints it’s only a matter of time before CDs will be gone too.