[Yo-Yo]

Betamax was not used by every single television studio in the country. Betacam was. Both Betamax and Betacam used the same cassette, but entirely different recording formats. A 60 minute Betamax cassette was a 20 minute Betacam tape.

Then there was the replacement/enhancement, Betacam SP which used metal tape. And what we use at our station, BetaSX, a digital recording format.

Betamax died because Sony was greedy and wouldn't license the technology to other manufacturers until it was way too late, when they licensed Toshiba to make one model of recorder.

JVC, the owner of the VHS format, would license anybody, including relatively unknown South Korean manufacturers Samsung and Goldstar. They flooded the market with $99 recorders when a Betamax went for $499.

The format wars was won on price, not performance.

[Publius Valerius]

Yes, yes, of course you’re right. But since Betacam was developed from Betamax, calling Betamax a bust is a bit of a stretch.