Showbiz Sandbox 627: Linear TV Drops Below 50% In U.S. For First Time
August 22, 2023
The number of households in the United States subscribing to traditional pay television services has dropped below 50% for the first time in the two years Nielsen has been tracking such metrics. And it’s not that viewers are cutting the cable cord, they’re just watching their favorite television shows and movies on streaming services more than they are on broadcast and cable.
Meanwhile, the writers and actors’ strikes show no sign of ending. One of the big sticking points is over the use of artificial intelligence in future productions. Now a new court ruling sided with the Copyright Office and said works solely generated by AI cannot be copyrighted.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Disney is being sued by one of its finance partners, why an Iranian filmmaker is being thrown in prison and some box office shenanigans taking place in Korea.
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Showbiz Sandbox 292: There Is Simply Too Much Television
August 31, 2015
Television network executives have begun publicly acknowledging a predicament their audiences recognized some time ago; there is simply too much television. In the midst of what has been dubbed a “golden age” of television, viewers are becoming reluctant to sign up for yet another new or existing series.
In fact, John Landgraf, the head of FX Networks, recently told the Television Critics Association that the glut of TV content means it has become more difficult to “cut through the clutter and create real buzz” when producing a show. With so much programming available, great shows can often go unnoticed or take longer to find an audience.
Then there are countries in which content is being suppressed. In Russia a politically active Ukrainian filmmaker was recently handed a 20 year prison sentence drawing international criticism that the charges were fabricated. Bangladesh meanwhile has banned a banned a new movie because it shed light on the country’s billion dollar garment industry, which is well known for exploiting its workers.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why Warner Bros. is headed to China, Spongebob Squarepants is headed to Broadway and how Netflix is about to lose more than 1000 movie titles.
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Showbiz Sandbox 230: It’s Curtains For Celluloid at CinemaCon
March 31, 2014
Every spring movie theater operators from around the world converge on Las Vegas to attend CinemaCon. During the week-long convention cinema owners are bombarded with industry facts, attendance figures, educational seminars and endless footage from upcoming releases. Over the years advances in digital projection have become an increasingly important topic at the show.
It’s no secret that cinemas have been slowly converting their facilities from traditional 35mm projection to digital. There was no better indication that the days of celluloid film prints are definitely over than the number of vendors at CinemaCon demonstrating the next generation of digital technology, including immersive sound and laser projectors.
When it comes to live theater, there is no doubt that New York’s Broadway and London’s West End are the leaders of the pack. Our own Michael Giltz reviews his previous predictions and investment advice by recapping the past year’s biggest money making productions, as well as a few financial losers.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including the fall of “Duck Dynasty”, a decline in paid cable subscribers and Oprah Winfrey’s plans for a national tour.
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