Until digital audio recording became viable, beta was cherished for it’s hi-fi audio, which was very very good. The beta hi-fi was protected by patents, and the VHS hi-fi scheme didn’t give nearly as good results. So beta hung on with the audiophile/musician/lowbuck-studio scene long after it was dead WRT consumer video. DAT, recordable CDROMs, and now ubiquitious computer based digital audio pretty much piled dirt on the long dead format.
The Beta used in TV stations is not the same as the Beta for home VCRs. BetaCam is used by TV stations. BetaCam is often refered to as Beta.