The ONLY reason VHS tapes existed (which led to DVDs) is because of porn.

No one was going to shill out to buy an expensive piece of equipment to record television shows, other than a few early adopters. Hollywood wasn't planning on making tapes of their movies, since hardly anyone had devices to play them on. The world of VHS players, and the blank tapes, had come to a standstill almost as soon as it came to market.

The idea of watching porn in the comfort of your home, and not in a theater, was enough to justify the purchase, however. This is how video rental started, and allowed hardware manufacturers to scale up production, thereby lowering the price. Hollywood noticed the change in the industry and started investing.