Showbiz Sandbox 418: Fighting For Control of His Company, CBS Head Les Moonves Is Now Fighting to Keep His Job

July 30, 2018

The challenge for CBS of fending off an unwanted merger with its parent company, Viacom, was made all the more difficult last week when the New Yorker published a story in which the broadcaster’s longtime CEO, Les Moonves, was accused of sexual misconduct by six women. The company now has to determine how to handle the allegations not only of Moonves, an influential executive who is credited with CBS’s success, but also the claim that a culture of sexual harassment exists throughout the organization.

Speaking of companies that are having chaotic weeks, MoviePass seems to be on the brink of collapse (i.e. bankruptcy). Apparently they ran out of money, borrowed $5 million to keep the lights on, changed their rules again and decided pretty much no one gets to see “Mission Impossible”.

The turmoil for some entertainment and tech companies extends beyond their own walls all the way to Wall Street where stock prices have become volatile and seem to defy any sense of logic. Shares of companies with solid profits have plumeted, while at the same time the prices for those losing money, like Spotify, have risen.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including producer Kenya Barris’ nine-figure deal with Netflix, Jeffrey Katzenberg raises $1 billion for a new entertainment venture and “Hamilton” may soon be headed into movie theaters, but not how you might expect.

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Showbiz Sandbox 171: Cost Of Sports Could Be Cable’s Unbundling

November 26, 2012

The rights to broadcast Major League Baseball games through 2021 were recently scooped up by ESPN for a cool $5.6 billion. That’s nothing compared to the $15.2 billion the network will be paying the NFL for “Monday Night Football” over the next eight years. Now News Corp. has coughed up billions for a stake in the New York Yankees network and are on the verge of paying a rumored $6 billion for the rights to air Los Angeles Dodger baseball games for 25-years. Some cable operators are now saying the skyrocketing costs of sports programming is out of control and unrealistic.

Since we’re talking about billions of dollars, we may as well mention Sony Pictures. Thanks to films such as “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “Skyfall” the studio has taken in more than $4 billion worldwide this year at the box office. Lionsgate isn’t doing too bad either, earning $1 billion with releases such as “Hunger Games” and “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”.

In fact, the North American box office is on pace to set a new record this year, much like the grosses recorded over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The $290 million was a new high for the four day period.

Of course, we also cover all the big entertainment headlines from the past two weeks including the ongoing sexual abuse scandal rocking Sesame Street, the death of actor Larry Hagman and NBC’s big win during the November sweeps.

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Showbiz Sandbox 121: Why 3D Movie Tickets Are About To Get More Expensive

October 3, 2011

As moviegoers grow more skeptical over paying premiums to see 3D movies you would think now would be a bad time to raise ticket prices yet again. However, if Sony Pictures has their way that’s just what may happen. Last week the studio told exhibitors they would no longer pay for 3D glasses after May 2012 triggering the start of a war between studios and cinemas that may wind up hitting movie audiences right in the wallet. We take a deeper look at the history and reasons behind this ongoing dispute.

Maybe movie buffs should forego the multiplex altogether and choose to stay home with a hot new independent film. Prescreen is an innovative new movie marketing and distribution platform for filmmakers and distributors that can help you find just the right one. Shawn Bercuson, the company’s CEO, joins us to explain what Prescreen is all about.

Facebook has also gotten into the discovery game with Open Graph, a new features which allows users to share experiences with friends in realtime. Now whenever a Facebook user is listening to music on Pandora or watching a movie on Netflix it will broadcast to everyone they are connected with on Facebook. What does Facebook’s entry into media recommendation mean for existing players such as Last.fm, Spotify and Pandora?

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Showbiz Sandbox 29: Camped Out For “Twilight: New Moon”

November 16, 2009

There was a debate over titling this week’s episode “The Profanity Podcast “due to some various disagreements and the name of a new sitcom. Intrigued? Read on.

Harry Medved from Fandango.com joins us briefly to talk about next week’s number one movie at the box office, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” (Did we get the name right? Can’t we just call it “New Moon” or “Twilight 2”?) Yes, that’s right, we’re prognosticating next week’s number one movie in North America. Hey, when women of all ages are lining up just to catch a glimpse of Robert Pattinson and/or Taylor Lautner at the premiere, you know you might have a hit on your hands.

Speaking of hits, is Twentieth Century Fox taking a huge risk by bankrolling a film based on an unfamiliar story with no Hollywood superstars and a budget approaching $500 million? We’re talking about “Avatar,” and particularly Michael Cieply’s article in the New York Times’ on the film directed by James Cameron. (So, is Cameron himself not a superstar?) John Horn and Claudia Eller from the Los Angeles Times write that the movie’s price tag continues to climbe and that its global marketing campaign could cost as much as $150 million, “Avatar” won’t have to do “Titanic” business to make money, but it will have to fill auditoriums around the world for weeks to become profitable. Read more