Clock ticking for DVDs, Blu-ray Discs

The recent announcement that Samsung plans to stop making Blu-ray Disc players has people talking about the end of physical media for movies and other videos.
People prefer the convenience of streaming video to having to pop in a disc to watch a movie. But the loss of physical media for movies will mean changes to how readily available those films will be to consumers.
The rise of streaming video services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu has steered people away from DVDs and high-definition Blu-ray Discs. The trend has led to lower sales of movies and TV series on disc because people can access a wide selection on demand from streaming services.
But you can’t always count on streaming services to have specific movies or TV shows. You have to check different services or use a search tool like JustWatch or Reelgood.
In the past, you could count on Netflix’s DVD service to be the great equalizer. It had practically every movie you could think of in its vast library. Or you could always buy video discs on Amazon. But many movies and TV series aren’t being released on disc anymore.
With new video services on the way from Walt Disney, Apple, WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal things are about to get a lot more complicated for video fans. And discs probably won’t be around much longer to help out.

Related articles:

Samsung to stop making Blu-ray players (Cnet; Feb. 15, 2019)

Samsung Halting Blu-ray Disc Player Production (Media Play News; Feb. 16, 2019)

Another blow to Blu-ray: Samsung will no longer make Blu-ray players for the US (Ars Technica; Feb. 18, 2019)

Samsung kills Blu-ray players. Blame streaming, smart TVs and Apple (Cnet; Feb. 23, 2019)

The end of Blu-ray (ZDnet; Feb. 25, 2019)