Media companies have mined their storage files for vintage assets to give consumers a robust selection of shows and feature films. Three major streaming services have been launched in the last year, with two - WarnerMedia's HBO Max and NBCUniversal's Peacock - arriving after the pandemic brought much of the production business to a standstill. “If no one’s producing, we still have to find content to entertain you.' “Our business has been stronger in this period,” said Lance Podell, senior vice president and general manager for IMES. But the company said it had double-digit revenue growth this year because of increased usage of archived material. Iron Mountain, which had $4.26 billion in revenue last year, does not disclose finances for its entertainment services unit, known as IMES. Its main storage facility is an underground limestone mine built in Boyers, Pa., that goes 22 stories underground.

The steady work flow has boosted the entertainment services unit of the Boston-based Iron Mountain, which was founded in 1951 with a mandate to protect documents, films and other media from destruction in the event of a nuclear attack, back when Cold War fears consumed the national psyche. The demand is sending media companies into their vaults to supply streaming services and documentary filmmakers, lending sizzle to the unglamorous business of archiving and restoring film, video and music assets. The creation of new shows and movies has been slowed by the health crisis while the appetite of homebound consumers looking for content is intensifying. “But most of that equipment is hard to find, which is why people are taking their material and digitizing it for whoever wants to view it.'Īs the COVID-19 pandemic has turned the past into the present for the entertainment industry, expect to see some of that content on a streaming service soon. “As long as you’ve got the proper equipment, you could probably play this 100 years from now,” Spada said. On a November afternoon in the Moonachie, N.J., facility, he was transferring tapes of programming from the 1960s into a software system that converted them into digital files. Kurt Spada, lead encode operator for Iron Mountain Entertainment Services, remembers working on one early in his career as a TV technician.įortunately, he still knows his way around the piece of equipment, which was first used during the advent of videotape in 1956 and now looks like a set piece from a vintage 'Star Trek' episode. It's been several decades since a TV show was recorded on a two-inch Quadruplex videotape machine. The HBO documentary 'The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart' will feature rarely seen tapes restored by Iron Mountain Entertainment Services.

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