[10] In March 1994, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH bought 20% of Voyager for US$6.7 million; the four founders each retained a 20% owner's share.

[20] Criterion stated in a blog post that it was "trying to find ways we can bring our library and original content back to the digital space as soon as possible".

[22] British film magazine Sight & Sound revealed in its April 2016 issue that Criterion would be expanding its releases to the United Kingdom.

The Criterion Collection video company pioneered the correct aspect-ratio letterboxing presentation of films, as well as commentary soundtracks, multi-disc sets, special editions and definitive versions.

These ideas and the special features introduced by the Criterion Collection have been highly influential, and have become industry-wide standards for premium home video releases.

[citation needed] With its eighth LaserDisc release, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Criterion introduced the letterbox format, which added black bars to the top and bottom of the 4:3 standard television set in order to preserve the original aspect ratio of the film.

[26] The Criterion Collection's second LaserDisc title, King Kong (1933), was the debut of the scene-specific audio commentary[27] contained in a separate analog channel of the LaserDisc,[28] in which American film historian Ronald Haver spoke about the production, cast, screenplay, production design and special effects.

The Criterion Collection began in 1984 with the releases of Citizen Kane (1941) and King Kong (1933) on LaserDisc, the latter's source negatives courtesy of the Library of Congress.

[30] The company later became known for pioneering the "special edition" DVD concept containing bonus materials such as trailers, commentaries, documentaries, alternate endings and deleted scenes.

In 2006, taking advantage of advanced film-transfer and film-restoration technologies, Criterion published higher-quality versions, with bonus materials, of early catalog titles such as Amarcord (1973), Brazil (1985) and Seven Samurai (1954).

Originally, Criterion released art, genre and mainstream movies on LaserDisc such as Halloween (1978), Ghostbusters (1984), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Armageddon (1998) and The Rock (1996).

Using the best available source materials, the company produced technologically improved and cleaner versions, such as those for The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), M (1931), Children of Paradise (1945), The Third Man (1949), Seven Samurai (1954) and Amarcord (1973).

Though the bulk of Criterion's catalog is of live-action films, they have also released animated films (such as Akira, Fantastic Planet, Fantastic Mr. Fox and WALL-E), television series (such as Tanner '88, Fishing with John and select episodes of I Love Lucy and The Addams Family) and music videos (Beastie Boys Video Anthology).

The Criterion Collection began publishing LaserDiscs on December 1, 1984, with its release of Citizen Kane, until March 16, 1999, with Michael Bay's Armageddon (#384).

Criterion entered the DVD market in 1998 with a reset numbering system, beginning with Seven Samurai, spine #2 (Grand Illusion, #1, was delayed for a year while restoration was underway on a then-newly-found camera negative).

The company also released The Red Shoes, A Hard Day's Night and The Piano on Ultra HD Blu-ray disc.

The company stated in a blog post that it was "trying to find ways we can bring our library and original content back to the digital space as soon as possible".

The Channel also hosts some original content, including academic overviews and curated introductions as well as featuring some Janus-owned titles that have yet to be released on physical media.