Memes

Akthually, Betamax and betacam were completely unrelated standards. Betamax was the failed vhs competitor, with good quality but an unusably short recording length, and betacam was the unrelated standard that enjoyed a long and successful run in the professional world.

Technology connections has a few videos on the subject, but this one is probably the most relevant: https://youtu.be/hGVVAQVdEOs

TV stations used it...

Nope, that was a different (but sorta related) format called Betacam.

Betamax might have had a better picture quality than VHS at the original Beta I speed, but Betamax recorders as old as 1979 discontinued that speed because 60 minutes was just not enough, so VHS at SP speed looked the same or better.

ummmm achchuly what you are thinking is betacam, not betamax. Betamax was only marginally better than vhs while being more expensive because it has a smaller casette/tape. The professional use betacam came later than the whole betamax vs vhs.

Actually no.

The professional format is Betacam, and incompatible with Betamax.

Betamax can be superior to VHS, but that’s easy if you just waste a lot of tape. If you put the formats on equal footing the difference is negligible: https://youtube.com/watch?v=_oJs8-I9WtA

Being theoretically better from a purely technical perspective doesn’t make something „superior“. VHS took over because the whole package was superior.