Why? Because back then people were willing to really buy a physical copy if they were interested?

In 1997 at least in Europe Jon was a superstar. Even that didn't help to make it a hit.
In 2020 Jon is an old, former rockstar who desperately tries to be relevant but actually besides some group of die-hards no-one cares.
So your point of distribution ways for videos is nonsense. It wouldn't change anything either way.