Video is having its vinyl moment.

From American Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech.

I'm Stephanie Hughes.

Move over streaming services, physical media is making a comeback.

A Consumer Report survey finds that nearly half of people in the U.S. are watching

Blu-rays and DVDs, and 15% of those surveyed are still watching VHS tapes.

So, Marketplace's Nova Saffo went out to learn more about what that looks like.

If you're a videophile in the know in Los Angeles, then you've probably visited Vidyat's,

a video rental store tucked inside a refurbished 100-year-old movie theater.

So we were originally started in 1985.

Robbie McCluskey is the store's director, tracing its roots back to the same year the first blockbuster opened.

McCluskey joined Vidyets decades after it was already popular.

My first day, I got a phone call from Christian Bale.

He was doing research on playing Moses for Ridley Scott, so he was like, give me everything that has Moses in it.

And then later that day, Keanu Reeves was driving his motorcycle, stopped in to grab a couple

movies.

So it was a really fun place to work.

Was a fun place because that version of Vidiots, a for-profit enterprise, closed in 2017,

unable to beat back the streaming tide.

In 2023, Vidiotts reopened as a nonprofit at a new cheaper location that refurbished

movie theater I mentioned, which holds screenings that help subsidize the video rental shop.

It's been two and a half years now. Every month, we have more rentals than the month before.

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