Showbiz Sandbox 534: Do All The Streaming Numbers Add Up?
March 23, 2021
With world-wide subscriptions surpassing 1 billion last year, every movie studio and every television network is pouring money into streaming video services. They’re hoping to make more money with subscribers than the untold billions they’ve been raking in for decades at the box office, through advertising, in syndication or sales of Blu-Rays. And while these services are quick to tell us how many subscribers they have, it’s anyone’s guess as to how many people are actually tuning in to their programming.
Theatrical box office is another statistic that has gotten harder to track during the pandemic with many distributors delaying the reporting of grosses. Even so, the Motion Picture Association added up all the numbers for 2020 and reported that global box office was down over 70 percent to $12 billion.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including the NFL’s new relationship with Amazon, Hollywood agencies are getting into celebrity estate management and a trip to this year’s SXSW Film Festival.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Showbiz Sandbox 404: Faith-Based Films Are Competing For the Choir’s Attention
March 19, 2018
It used to be that to promote a faith-based film release, especially one geared toward Christian audiences, all a distributor had to do was screen the film for church groups or pastors, and maybe create some study material. But once studios saw there was money in faith-based movies, they began making more of them. As Ryan Faughnder, a film business reporter for the Los Angeles Times, explains, promoting such titles in a crowded market has become a lot more difficult.
In China, regulators are cracking down on marketing agencies that use hundreds or thousands of fake accounts to promote (or bash) products, movies, personalities… almost anything really. Known as the “internet water army” or “cyber navy,” they have made it hard to gauge the public’s true sentiment about a movie, actor, etc. via social media.
MoviePass meanwhile continues to make headlines, though this time it’s for something they’re not doing. Despite claiming two weeks ago that their mobile app tracks subscriber’s every move, it turns out MoviePass doesn’t really do that and the company had to apologize
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why YouTube is teaming up with Wikipedia, IHeatMedia files for bankruptcy and Netflix looks to get into the news game.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Showbiz Sandbox 391: For Your Consideration – Grammy Marketing Campaigns
December 4, 2017
Hip-hop artists lead the nominees for this year’s Grammy Awards with Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar the front runners for Album Of The Year. Steve Knopper, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and author of several books about the music industry, joins us to explain how musicians have taken a lesson from Hollywood and begun mounting marketing campaigns to snag music’s highest honor.
Accolades for the year’s best movies have also begun to be doled out with critics groups announcing their picks. “Call Me By Your Name,” “The Florida Project,” and “Lady Bird” seem to be the big favorites as we head into awards season.
Meanwhile, allegations of sexual misconduct continue to pile up against entertainment and media personalities. Just when we thought it couldn’t get much worse, “Today” anchor Matt Lauer was fired by NBC News over sexual harassment and famed Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine was suspended over accusations of sexual abuse.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Stephen Colbert continues to win the late night wars, director Bryan Singer disappears from the set of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and why Disney is suing Redbox.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Showbiz Sandbox 312: Scripting Those Perfect Grammy Moments
February 16, 2016
With nominees representing a wide range of genres including pop, country, hip-hop, R&B and rock, this year’s Grammy Awards had a little something for everyone. David Wild, one of the writers responsible for this year’s Grammy telecast and a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, takes a few minutes from his busy schedule to discuss Rihanna’s no-show, Kendrick Lamar’s electric performance and more.
It would seem that anyone who wasn’t watching the Grammys was at the movie theater watching “Deadpool”. The R-rated superhero movie that transformed from a comeback vehicle for Ryan Reynolds to a box office hit to a phenomenon, all in the space of five days.
Meanwhile China was also breaking box office records thanks to the Golden Week holiday associated with Chinese New Years. Plus, the Oscars are getting closer and we’ll report on the latest buzz generated by the BAFTAs and the WGA Awards.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including an autobiography from rocker Bruce Springsteen, Disney is sending “Frozen” to Broadway and why media stocks have suddenly taken a nosedive.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
