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. 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. 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. 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. In 1988, after Coca-Cola sold its entertainment business, Tri-Star Video was merged into RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video. In late 1989, it was rumored that
Trans World Entertainment would eventually sign a deal with RCA/Columbia to distribute its titles. 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.
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. As the lawsuit continued into 1991,
General Electric, the parent of NBC and RCA, announced that it was divesting its interest in RCA/Columbia. The deal closed in August of that year and the litigation officially ended with Sony renaming the company as Columbia TriStar Home Video (CTHV). 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 venture. On February 28, 1999, CTHV and
Universal Studios Home Video signed a multi-year deal to allow CTHV to distribute Universal's products on DVD outside North America. For a short time, titles from Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment also distributed by Universal on VHS between 2002 and 2003.
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. 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. The home video production unit was spun off as
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions in 2007. SPHE had a three-year deal with
Starz's
Anchor Bay Entertainment for worldwide DVD releases, with the exceptions of North America, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. On February 21, 2010,
The Weinstein Company (TWC) struck a home video distribution deal with SPHE through
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions. On August 31, 2010, SPHE partnered with
RLJ Entertainment in a multi-year agreement, marketing and distributing DVDs and Blu-rays by RLJ. RLJ retained their own sales and marketing. In September 2011, the Australian division of SPHE announced they would merge their video operations with the local operations of
Universal Pictures International Entertainment to form a joint-venture called Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. On April 23, 2012, Mill Creek announced that they had signed a home video distribution deal with SPHE, acquiring the rights to distribute 250 films from the Sony Pictures catalog on DVD and Blu-ray. On August 27, 2013, Mill Creek Entertainment signed a deal with SPHE to distribute 665 SPE films and 54 television series on DVD. Anime News Network reported in February 2013 that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's Australian joint venture with
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment licensed
anime television series from
NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan for distribution in Australia, with its initial titles,
A Certain Magical Index,
Shakugan no Shana and
Armitage III, scheduled for release on April 24, 2013. From 2017 to 2018,
Funimation began directly distributing a select number of its anime titles in Australia and New Zealand through Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's Australian joint venture with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. In September 2018, Funimation transferred distribution to
Madman Entertainment, with Madman handling distribution and classification within the region. On December 18, 2013, SPHE president David Bishop, who had served since 2006, announced he would leave when his contract expired in March 2014. It was announced that Man Jit Singh would replace Bishop. On July 22, 2015, SPHE and Transmission Films reached a multi-year distribution pact to release Transmission's library in Australia (through Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Australia Pty Limited) and in New Zealand. On November 20, 2015, SPHE announced that it would release Ultra HD
Blu-ray releases. On March 15, 2016, SPHE partnered with
eOne to distribute films by
Momentum Pictures across the globe except for Canada on physical and digital home entertainment platforms. In January 2017, SPHE expanded its distribution deal with
Genius Brands to include all properties and acquired an equity stake in the company. On February 6, 2018, Man Jit Singh stepped down as president of SPHE and was replaced by Keith LeGoy. In February 2021, Sony announced it would distribute releases by
Lionsgate Home Entertainment in North America beginning in July 2021, when Lionsgate's distribution deal with
20th Century Home Entertainment expired.
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. 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. 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.
Recent history On February 26, 2021, SPHE entered into a multi-year home entertainment distribution deal with
Lionsgate Studios, after the latter's deal with 20th Century ended. Sony began distributing Lionsgate titles in July of the same year with Lionsgate continuing to maintain its own independent sales and marketing teams, while leveraging Sony's supply chain and distribution services for sales. In February 2024, it was reported that SPHE entered into a multi-year home entertainment distribution deal with
The Walt Disney Company, where upon Sony would manufacture, market, and distribute all Disney’s new releases and catalog titles on physical media in the U.S. and Canada that was previously handled by
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, and Disney would continue to manage its own digital media. ==Sub-labels==