Our History

      August of 1974 Media Concepts was founded and incorporated by Bob Skidmore and John P. Gallagher. John and Bob brought numerous years of experience in the broadcast business with them, including a successful career with RKO General Broadcasting in New York City. Having purchased a franchise from First Cine-Tel the company set out to sell, market and maintain "IN-ROOM" closed-circuit television entertainment systems to the hotel and hospital industry. In the process the company became a distributor of JVC professional video equipment, added television production facilities, an equipment rental department, and duplication facilities and thus became known as "West Florida's oldest video specialty house".

     When consumer video became a reality a retail showroom was added and soon expanded to a second location, the first video store in a mall East of the Mississippi. Two franchise operations were also added and the retail chain became known as "VIDEO CORNER". During this growth period Magnetic Video Corporation selected Media Concepts as its' first software movie distributor in Florida. In the months that followed other suppliers products were added and Media Concepts was truly the first video distributor in Florida, and for that matter, one of the first in the United States. In 1985, with a customer base of over five-hundred stores, the wholesale software distribution arm of the company was sold to a national distributor, Video Trend/Major Video, and is now relocated in Tampa.  Media Concepts along with international fitness trainer, Tony Little, has produced numerous fitness tapes and related products that are marketed nationally and internationally through electronic and mass merchant retailing. Each tape has achieved Gold and/or Platinum status.


    
After the sale, the company took a new direction and added a thirty-two machine VHS Hi-Fi duplication facility, the first such installation in Florida. This department has since been expanded to over two-hundred decks and includes D9, Super VHS and 8mm, Hi-8mm, Mini-DV,  Betacam, 1", and MII along with digital PAL/NTSC standards conversion , PAL/SECAM duplication and Quad transfers. An improved post production edit suite with A/B roll and digital effects was also added with mastering on PRO-SVHS, BETACAM and D9. With two in-house Producer/Directors Media Concepts has earned the reputation of being an established, creative and reliable production house in the corporate and broadcast community. 

 

     In late 1998 Media Concepts produced the first Non-Theatrical program in the United States for the DVD VIDEO format, a new cutting edge recording media.


     The company has received numerous awards and has been featured and quoted in the local press, trade publications and THE WALL STREET JOURNAL just to mention a few.

     The future and direction of Media Concepts, Inc., is only limited by technology, customer needs and the ability of the staff and management to meet and exceed those requirements. If the past is any indication of the future, then we have just begun.....