VIDEO : BETA LOSING GROUND TO VHS IN BATTLE OF FORMATS

Beta is in trouble.

One of the two main half-inch VCR formats, Beta has been slowly losing its share of the market to its rival, VHS. According to the latest figures, Beta, which had 41% of the market in 1980, dipped to a little more than 15% last year. Video stores stock mostly VHS tapes. The results of one recent poll of video merchants indicated that nearly 40% deal in VHS only.

While Beta isn’t likely to suffer a sudden death, industry analysts predict its decline will continue this year. Beta manufacturers, like Toshiba, have entered the VHS market. But Sony, the Beta pioneer, so far has resisted the VHS trend.

However, Sony isn’t stagnating. It has ventured into the controversial new 8-millimeter format, introducing camera-recorders next month. Eight-millimeter has a smaller cassette than the half-inch Beta and VHS and reportedly a higher-quality picture. In the next five years, optimistic forecasters insist that this will become the major VCR system.

X-RATED VID WOES: In many communities around the country there’s been growing opposition to the sale and rental of X-rated videocassettes. The pressure is being applied by local governments and conservative private organizations. According to a recent Billboard magazine story, dealers offering X-rated videocassettes are facing legal action in Arizona, Ohio and Washington. So far, video dealers have no national defense unit, but one may be organized if this pressure intensifies, which is quite likely.

Last year, according to industry reports, X-rated videocassettes accounted for about 14% of cassette sales, totaling about $100 million. X-rated fare accounts for an estimated 25% of the rental business.

NEW RELEASES: “The Cotton Club” (Embassy, $79.95), the Francis Coppola extravaganza that was a box-office disappointment, is just out. . . . “Songwriter,” seen by just a trickle of fans, is being released next month by RCA/Columbia ($79.95). Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson star in this folksy peek at the country-music business. . . . CBS/Fox is putting out the Nick Nolte film “Teachers” ($79.98).

This month Paramount is saluting Audrey Hepburn with the release of such oldies such as “Roman Holiday” ($39.95), “Funny Face” ($49.95) and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” ($39.95). . . . “Dinner at Eight,” the Jean Harlow-John Barrymore classic, is available on MGM/UA ($39.95).

Possibly the biggest asset of the movie “Flashdance” was Marine Jahan’s acrobatic dancing as Jennifer Beals’ double. Jahan has put those skills to work in a fitness cassette, “Freedanse With Marine Jahan” (MTI, $39.95). Disney is offering “Mousercise” ($39.95) for parents who want to whip their kids into shape. The instructor, Kellyn, is assisted by an assortment of Disney characters.

Here come the Schmenges. The Polish parody, “The Schmenges: The Last Polka,” recently broadcast on cable, will be released in June by Vestron. It stars SCTV alums John Candy and Eugene Levy.

BIBLICAL KIDVID: Hanna-Barbera Productions is counting on the kidvid boom continuing. The company just announced a massive venture, a series of animated adaptations of Bible stories budgeted at $2 million. Dubbed “The Greatest Adventure: Stories From the Bible,” the first six cassettes in the series are stories of David and Goliath, Moses, Noah, Samson and Delilah, Daniel in the lion’s den and Joshua and the Battle of Jericho.

Currently in production, the 30-minute cassettes, budgeted at a minimum of $300,000 each, are scheduled for October release, in time for the Christmas market. The price hasn’t been set but it’s expected to be about $20.

Hanna-Barbera will have some competition. SQN Entertainment Software is preparing a computer-animated adaptation of the Doubleday book, “Illustrated Children’s Bible.” Unlike the Hanna-Barbera series, these three 30-minute cassettes won’t be made on a huge budget. The SQN tapes will also cost $20.

CHARTS: As expected, “The Terminator,” the Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller, had a strong second week, particularly on the Billboard magazine rental chart, where it bounded from No. 35 to No. 4. On the videocassette sales chart it climbed to No. 12.

“Elvis Aloha From Hawaii” (No. 17) is off to a good start. The sales chart debuts include three music videocassettes--Paul McCartney’s “Give My Regards to Broad Street” (No. 18), the Doors’ “Dance on Fire” (No. 25) and “Wham! The Video” (No. 32).

The new rental chart entries are “Supergirl” (No. 19), “The Bostonians” (No. 22) and “Bill Cosby Himself” (No. 24). . . . “Country” (No. 3) is doing better as a rental than it did at the box office.

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, SALES 1. “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” (Paramount).

2. “Gone With the Wind” (MGM/UA).

3. “Jane Fonda’s Workout” (Karl Video).

4. “Lionel Richie All Night Long” (Brockman).

5. “Tina Turner Private Dancer” (Sony).

6. “Purple Rain” (Warner Bros.).

7. “Prime Time” (Karl Video).

8. “Raquel Total Beauty and Fitness” (Thorn/EMI).

9. “The Jane Fonda Workout Challenge” (Karl Video).

10. “Do It Debbie’s Way” (Raymax).

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, RENTALS

1. “Revenge of the Nerds” (CBS-Fox).

2. “Bachelor Party” (CBS-Fox).

3. “Country” (Touchstone).

4. “The Terminator” (Thorn/EMI).

5. “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” (Paramount).

6. “Police Academy” (Ladd/Warner).

7. “Red Dawn” (MGM/UA).

8. “Irreconcilable Differences” (Vestron).

9. “The Little Drummer Girl” (Warner Bros.).

10. “The Woman in Red” (Vestron).