Showbiz Sandbox 648: Judging This Year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominees
February 20, 2024
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced their 2024 nominees, including some musical acts previously shortlisted for inclusion. Musician and music writer Sal Nunziato joins host Michael Giltz to argue over which of these acts should be included in the Hall of Fame and why. Plus they give us a rundown of their favorite albums from the past year.
Meanwhile, “Oppenheimer” solidified itself as the obvious and only leader during this year’s awards season by winning seven BAFTA awards, including Best Film. At this point, the movie seems destined to top the upcoming Academy Awards.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the math behind this year’s movie release schedule, how Microsoft is spreading some Xbox love and ESPN is going long on college football.
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Showbiz Sandbox 585: Entertainment Industry Stumble Into Sociopolitical Pitfalls
June 7, 2022
Social justice and political issues have been making life complicated for movie studios, record labels and concert promoters. Whether you’re casting a movie, choosing a director, booking a live performance or releasing a new album, you’ll also be having to deal with their past, present and sometimes even future behavior. Just ask Johnny Depp, filmmaker Cary Fukunaga and comedian Louis C.K.
Rolling Stone knows a thing or two about digging into the past of the musicians it covers. As the war in Ukraine marches on the magazine published a piece on all the big name pop stars who’ve been paid millions over the years to perform at private parties and events for Russian oligarchs.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Mariah Carey is being sued for plagiarism, the most watched television shows from the past year and musician Kate Bush has a new old hit thanks to “Stranger Things.”
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Showbiz Sandbox 522: Relief In Sight for Stages and Screens
December 22, 2020
Just in time for the holidays, the United States Congress finally passed a COVID relief bill which will help independent concert halls, live theatres and movie theaters with some $15 billion in grants and loans. Shuttered since the beginning of the pandemic, many of these venues would probably close for good without financial assistance.
Meanwhile, Creative Artists Agency and the Writers Guild have now officially buried the hatchet, reaching a deal on a new franchise agreement. William Morris Endeavor is now the only talent agency that hasn’t agreed to the WGA’s terms.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the video game Cyberpunk 2077 has been trying to work the bugs out with its release, Mariah Carey returns to the top of the music charts with her Christmas hit and film critics associations from New York to Los Angeles name the years best movies.
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Showbiz Sandbox 474: YouTube and Facebook Curtail Their Streaming Subscriptions
December 30, 2019
Facebook and YouTube might be giants in technology and media, but they have both decided to sit out the streaming wars. Sure, they’re spending $1 billion per year producing original content but pales in comparison to what the Apples and Amazons and Peacocks and HBO Maxes of the world are shelling out for new content. So, Facebook and YouTube have decided to keep their video offerings free and ad-supported.
As 2019 comes to a close with one of the biggest movie-going weeks of the year it looks as if the industry will end a semi-happy note, with record international box office, perhaps a new worldwide box office record and the second biggest North American haul in history.
Meanwhile, China added another 8,800 movie screens this year, bringing the country’s grand total to a titch under 69,000 in all. And most of the hits playing on those screens are Chinese films and that’s just the way the government wants to keep it.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Universal Pictures may have released a new version of “Cats” after it was already in theaters, live news and sports dominates the year’s basic cable ratings and Spotify gets out of politcs.
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Showbiz Sandbox 472: The Growing Dominance of Netflix Movies During Awards Season
December 16, 2019
As Hollywood’s major guilds begin announcing their nominations for best films of the year a trend seems to be emerging; Netflix is becoming a player in prestige cinema. Similar to how cable networks disrupted the domination of broadcast companies at the Emmys, the streaming giant has a growing number of entries vying for top awards.
In China the government has had to pivot from censoring basketball to worrying about how to deal with soccer now that one of the sports star players has spoken out over the protests taking place in Hong Kong. Can the government continue to pull sports off the airwaves without creating a huge programming problem?
Meanwhile, there has been some industry murmurings about the lack of big titles from Marvel or Lucasfilm on next year’s release schedule, leading some to believe box office will be down significantly. We take a quick look at some of the upcoming 2020 releases and explain why there is no need to panic.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the controversy that might break the reality show “Survivor,” why Billboard is adding video streaming to its album charts and the National Film Registry announces its latest selections.
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Showbiz Sandbox 432: Peak TV Just Got Peakier
December 17, 2018
When John Landgraf, head of the FX network, proclaimed we had reached a state of “peak TV” back in 2015, he predicted the 422 television shows being produced at the time would inevitably decline since there was no way for audiences to keep up. Last year however, that number rose to 495 series being produced. To put this increase in perspective, there were 182 shows on the air in 2002.
It’s safe to assume these numbers are bound to rise with new entrants into the video streaming market launching in 2019 including Disney and WarnerMedia. What’s more, the annual amount of money being spent on all this content is astonishing with the likes of Netflix and Amazon each spending $8 billion and $5 billion respectively. And that’s nothing compared to the $22 billion Disney is shelling out.
Meanwhile, the awards season is underway with all sorts of groups weighing in on their favourites, including the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Golden Globes and the first awards that matter: the Screen Actors Guild. Spoiler alert: “Roma” just hit a roadblock.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the Grammy nominations, new entrants to the National Film Registry and Mariah Carey’s latest chart-topping hit is a quarter century-old Christmas song.
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Showbiz Sandbox 362: What’s The Flipping Problem With Record Store Day?
April 17, 2017
This year’s Record Store Day is just days away, but what began as a way to support independent record stores has turned into a covert commercial endeavor for those reselling the event’s exclusive vinyl releases at exorbitant prices. Sal Nunziato, a former record store owner himself, joins us to discuss why he’s never been all that fond of the annual promotion.
These days Nunziato is a music blogger and drummer in the band the John Sally Ride. Their new album, “A New Set of Downs” will be released later this year, but in a unique twist, is already available on platforms such as Spotify and Soundcloud. He’ll tell us all about it.
Meanwhile, even though ESPN has lost 12 million subscribers in the past six years, the cable sports network is still very profitable, generating $11 billion per year for its owner, Disney. But with skinny cable bundles and online streaming eating into its subscriber base, ESPN is girding itself for an unknown future.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including the launch of YouTube TV, Spotify finally signs a new deal with a major record label, and Harry Potter wins big it at this year’s Olivier Awards.
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Showbiz Sandbox 316: Indiana Jones and the Colonoscopy
March 21, 2016
Last week Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg announced they are grabbing a whip and fedora and planning one more adventure for Indiana Jones with its original director and star. They haven’t set a start date for shooting, don’t seem to have a script or even a setting or general idea for the movie yet, at least not one they’re sharing. But naturally they have a release date. The next Indiana Jones will be coming to a theater near you on July 19, 2019.
If it were up to the Screening Room, you’ll be able to watch the latest Indiana Jones installment from the comfort of your own home. Everyone is weighing in on the new company that wants to make blockbuster movies available in your home the same day they hit theaters.
Meanwhile, CBS is turning off their radios. The broadcaster says they are looking to offload their fabled radio group despite it being a stable long-term business. CBS believes radio doesn’t have sexy growth potential so they apparently wants out.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including an explanation of television stacking rights, Mariah Carey gets her own reality series and China cracks down on box office fraud.
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Showbiz Sandbox 127: Has NBC Lost Touch With Its Community?
November 28, 2011
When NBC removed the quirky sitcom “Community” from their mid-season schedule the show’s cult following went berserk. Fans launched petitions via Twitter and Facebook and in an ironic twist, got the show selected as TV Guide Magazine’s second annual Fan Favorites winner. In a desperate effort to find success with their primetime programming, NBC has given the “Community” time slot to another acclaimed comedy with mediocre ratings, “Up All Night”. Is anyone minding the store at the struggling network, or are all these calculated strategic moves?
Maybe “Community” can be saved by Netflix. That’s not such a far fetched idea now that the video rental cum streaming service is resuscitating the long-canceled “Arrested Development” by producing another 10 episodes. Yet, as Netflix moves into original content, it stock price continues to decline as some of the companies cash flow problems are made public.
Meanwhile, 30 years after it occurred, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s department has decided to reopen the case of Natalie Wood’s death. The legendary actress drowned under mysterious circumstances in 1981 while boating with her husband Robert Wagner. Could investigators actually find new evidence so long after the fact, or are they following tips from sources who might have ulterior motives.
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Showbiz Sandbox 57: A Memo From James Cameron
June 7, 2010
It was kind of a slow news week in the entertainment world, especially when it comes to the North American box office. Movie attendance is down 10% over last year’s summer blockbuster season. Hollywood Reporter deputy film editor Carl DiOrio stops by with his theories as to why audiences are staying away from this year’s crop of Hollywood offerings.
The MTV Movie Awards were held last weekend and the telecast was filled with so much profanity half of it was bleeped out. Though few take the awards seriously, we’ll still fill you in on all the winners and Tom Cruise’s outstanding dance performance.
Over in television Bravo has been making a name for itself with a string of successful reality television shows including “The Real Housewives of New York”. The network is not shy about letting the New York Times know that they use social media and the Internet to decide which shows are working, popular storylines and which cast members are break out stars deserving their own show. Speaking of break out stars, the cast of the popular “Big Bang Theory” wants a 285% pay raise and are presenting a unified front when negotiating with the network.
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