Showbiz Sandbox 204: The Argument Over Broadcast Retransmission Consent Fees
September 9, 2013
After a programming blackout that lasted more than month Time Warner Cable came to an agreement with CBS over retransmission consent fees. Unless the 20-year-old retransmission consent legislation is revised or updated, the number of network blackouts will continue to increase. Unfortunately the real losers in all such disputes are consumers.
The Time Warner Cable-CBS deal was reached just as the new television season is about to begin. We’ll review some new series that have potential and are worth catching, as well as a few you might want to avoid.
Meanwhile, the book publishing industry was in the news last week with Amazon announcing plans to bundle e-books with the sale of traditional print copies, and a new startup hoping you’ll stop buying books altogether and simply rent them.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including declining attendance on Broadway over the summer, Bruno Mars heads to the Super Bowl and a major personnel change at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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Vin Diesel’s ‘Riddick’ Opens No. 1 With $18.7 Million
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-vin-diesels-riddick-624025
Bold Play by CBS Fortifies Broadcasters
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/07/business/media/bold-play-by-cbs-fortifies-broadcasters.html
Will Time Warner Cable’s Failed Battle With CBS Change Anything? Understanding Our Reversal on Retrans Issue
http://www.btigresearch.com/2013/09/03/will-time-warner-cables-failed-battle-with-cbs-change-anything-understanding-our-reversal-on-retrans-issue/
The Disequilibrium of Power: How Retransmission Consent Went So Wrong & How to Fix It
http://www.btigresearch.com/2013/08/12/the-disequilibrium-of-power-how-retransmission-consent-went-so-wrong-how-to-fix-it/
Cord-Cutting Reality: Pay-TV Industry Loses 217,000 Subscribers
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-pay-tv-industry-loses-subscribers-20130903,0,7983225.story
Broadway Grosses For Week of September 8, 2013
http://www.broadwayworld.com/grosses.cfm?sortby=gross&orderby=desc#sthash.F5LlnasZ.dpbs
Tokyo Chosen As Host City For 2020 Summer Olympics
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tokyo-chosen-as-2020-summer-623682
Summer Attendance Falls on Broadway, but High Prices Lift Sales Totals
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/summer-attendance-falls-on-broadway-but-high-prices-lift-sales-totals
Paramount Picks Four Chinese Actors for ‘Transformers 4’ Roles via Reality Show
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/paramount-picks-four-chinese-actors-619299
Motion Picture Academy COO Ric Robertson Steps Down
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-ampas-coo-ric-robertson-to-step-down-20130906,0,4232372.story
Ric Robertson’s Academy Exit Represents Changing of Guard
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/ric-robertsons-academy-exit-represents-623386
Amazon Offers Readers Kindle Editions of Purchased Print Books for $2.99 or Less
http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/amazon-offers-readers-kindle-editions-of-purchased-print-books-for-2-99-or-less/
Encouraging Readers To Sell Their Physical Books?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremygreenfield/2013/09/03/amazon-matchbook-encouraging-readers-to-sell-their-book-collections-and-go-digital/
Oyster Launches Spotify for E-Books
http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/spotify-for-ebooks-oyster-launches/
Unlimited E-Books For Less Than $10 A Month
http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/09/our-dream-library-unlimited-e-books-for-less-than-10-a-month/
I’m most excited by Amazon’s bundling offer — letting anyone who bought a hardcover book pay a few bucks and get an ebook as well. (Only certain books qualify.) I think every publisher should do this. Buy a hardcover and get an ebook and audio book bundled along with it — not as an excuse to raise prices but to make books more appealing. If they just want an ebook, you pay less. Heck, people pay less for ebooks already. Why doesn’t every publisher see books should be just as user friendly as music on CD and movies on disc?
Hello, I don’t know if this is happening to just me, but the last episode can’t be downloaded from iTunes. Well, actually it looks like it downloads but it never appears in the podcast menu.
Luis, you are not the only one of our listeners to be experiencing problems with downloading or listening to the show on iTunes. In fact, I’m having issues with doing both myself.
The issue seems to be intermittent and be caused by our podcast host. This has been going on for a couple of weeks now and we’ve spent countless hours trying to fix the problem. Obviously it’s time to switch hosting providers.
May I ask if it’s every episode you are having problems with or just the last episode?
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Hello Mr.Sperling,
I just had problems with the last episode.If I am not mistaken the number 204.
Thank you for clarifying the problem. Now I feel a little better, although sad because I can’t download the show. I will listen it here.
Sorry for my English, I am still learning.
Luis, your English is actually quite good. We were able to fix the download issue by uploading another version of the MP3 file. We’re not sure what “corrupted” the first file, but all episodes should be appearing and downloadable in iTunes now. Thanks for making us aware of the issue.
Thank you Mr. Sperling. I listened it here but I am going to see if I can download it through itunes.