Showbiz Sandbox 645: Amazon Prime Video Set To Dominate Advertising Market
January 16, 2024
Unlike most major streaming services, which allow new subscribers to choose between a more expensive ad-free plan and a cheaper ad-supported tier, Amazon has taken an opt-out approach with Prime. When Prime Video begins streaming ads in late-January one of the biggest streaming services in the world with at least 150 million subscribers, will immediately become a major player in television advertising. Especially since most of its customers will decide not to pay extra to avoid ads.
Meanwhile the Emmys got slotted into January due to last year’s actors and writers strikes forcing the awards ceremony to compete with football playoffs and presidential election campaigns. Will anyone be paying attention to see who wins prizes for television series that aired two years ago? Or with guild awards nominations piling in has everyone already moved onto the Oscars.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the deal Tom Cruise landed to make movies at Warner Bros., Harry Potter’s best selling video game and another former cable news anchor launches a program on X (née Twitter).
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Showbiz Sandbox 644: The Golden Globes Lose Their Luster
January 11, 2024
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association held its first Golden Globes awards ceremony under a new and supposedly improved organization under new ownership. Organizers scrambled to find both a network to broadcast this year’s show, not to mention a host. In the end, the winners weren’t surprising with “Oppenheimer” and “Succession” each taking home five, but the show itself was incredibly bland.
Realistically, neither the Golden Globes or groups like the National Society of Film Critics are good predictors of which films will be favorites at this year’s Academy Awards.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the best selling books of 2023, a major radio station operator files for bankruptcy and Prince’s “Purple Rain” heads to Broadway.
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Showbiz Sandbox 643: Linear Television Viewership Sinks to New Lows
January 3, 2024
Two annual ratings roundups of television viewing in the United States show that audiences for traditional broadcast and linear cable are in serious decline. The list of the 100 most watched broadcast episodes is mostly sports. And the top ranked channels reveal cable isn’t even really trying to program their networks anymore.
Meanwhile, the domestic box office managed to surpass $9 billion for the first time since the COVID pandemic, with Universal Pictures taking over for Disney as the top earner.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Gérard Depardieu stirs up more controversy, Taylor Swift sets more sales chart records and Paramount Global is looking for a buyer.
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Showbiz Sandbox 642: What Netflix Subscribers Really Watch
December 19, 2023
Last week Netflix released a huge data dump detailing the viewership of all its programming for the first six months of 2023. The streaming giant is calling it a victory for transparency. While it’s a long way from the granular detail the industry has long sought, it does reveal that almost nobody watches 25% of the 18,000 on the serverice. We discuss other findings the metrics reveal and why Netflix is suddenly so open about releasing data.
Meanwhile, the guilds have started to weigh in with their picks for the top films of this year and providing us with a list of documentaries you should catch up on.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Mayim Bialik is out as host of “Jeapordy,” the 25 films added to this year’s National Film Registry and the (legal and professional) verdict on actor Jonathan Majors.
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Showbiz Sandbox 640: Hollywood Has Always Been Addicted To Sequels
November 28, 2023
If moviegoers have grown tired of endless sequels and franchise reboots, as some will have you believe, then Hollywood studios may be in big trouble. In 2024, a new sequel will be released every other week, including another Godzilla movie, Dune 2, a new Ghostbusters, a new Kung Fu Panda, another Mad Max film, Deadpool 3, Inside Out 2, the next Planet of the Apes movie and a new Despicable Me. Yet, Hollywood’s love affair with sequels is as old as the film business itself.
Meanwhile, in the music industry, comedian Bo Burnham hit a landmark on the Billboard charts, the performing rights organization BMI ditches its nonprofit status, and musical duo Daryl Hall and John Oates are suing each other.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Disney’s horrible year continues with its latest animated film, Taylor Swift gives herself a birthday present and spending on productions for streaming services hits an all time high in Europe.
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Showbiz Sandbox 636: Why Streaming Subscriptions Are Getting More Expensive
November 1, 2023
When Netflix announced its earnings for the third quarter of 2023 it also confirmed that it would be increasing prices for those that don’t want to view ads. Amazon recently said it would also be raising the price for the ad-free tier of Prime Video. It turns out these streaming services have discovered they make more revenue per subscriber when they are willing to watch ads. Now all they need to do is scale their advertising subscriber-base.
Meanwhile, there are signs that talks to settle the actors’ strike may be going well. Though the strike’s damages have already been done with studios postponing releases until 2025 and television ad rates plummeting.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why music publishers are taking legal action against artificial intelligence companies, how record labels are trying to prevent artists from re-recording their albums and the untimely death of Matthew Perry.
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Showbiz Sandbox 385: Hollywood Finally Addresses Concerns Over Sexual Harassment
October 23, 2017
The recent and voluminous sexual harassment claims against mega-producer Harvey Weinstein have ignited a firestorm of similar allegations by women against numerous professionals throughout the industry. It has grown into a day of reckoning that is reaching directors, agents and executives in Hollywood, to encompass the music, publishing and video game industries too.
Last week it was revealed that filmmaker James Toback sexually harassed upwards of 38 women over a course of decades. At the same time Nickelodeon fired Chris Savino, the creator behind one of its most popular series, over harassment claims and the head of amazon Studios stepped down under a cloud of similar accusations.
Meanwhile, Ticketmaster may have finally found a way to squelch scalpers from buying up all the best seats at live events. Its Verified Fan program is getting great, albeit expensive, tickets into the hands of actual fans. Now all they have to do is work on the technology to make it work more effectively.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including Netflix continues to expand its subscriber base, Justin Timberlake will perform at the Super Bowl halftime show and HBO will bring its international productions to the United States.
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Showbiz Sandbox 309: Getting Shutout at Sundance
January 26, 2016
Anyone who is anyone in the indie film world is presently in Park City, Utah attending this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Of course, it’s impossible to see all the nearly 200 films making their debut at Sundance. As we explain, seeing some of the hottest titles at the festival requires hours of waiting in line for screenings that are often over capacity, thus leaving dozens out in the cold. Literally and figuratively.
Some of the biggest headlines at this year’s Sundance were made by Amazon and Netflix. Though both distributors have previously had a presence at Sundance, this year they went on a buying spree, shelling out big bucks to snap up a number of buzzworthy films. The industry now is watching closely how the distribution of these acquisitions is handled and whether the companies are capable of turning them into financial successes.
Meanwhile, the controversy over the lack of diversity for this year’s Oscar nominations continues to boil over. With talk of boycotts and accusations of racial bias, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced some drastic steps it plans on taking to rectify the situation. Unfortunately, this only caused the debate to become even more boisterous.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the Grammy Awards will go live, Bette Midler will be going to Broadway and actress Gillian Anderson balks at being paid half of what David Duchovny makes for the “X-Files” reunion.
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Showbiz Sandbox 232: Coachella Goes Over The Top, Figuratively and Literally
April 14, 2014
In its 15 year history the Coachella has grown from a two day event with a couple dozen bands to one of the world’s most important music festivals with so many VIP luxury amenities that some have argued the high-priced perks have begun overshadowing the actual music. At the same time, Coachella organizers have made it easier than ever for stay-at-home-fans to catch their favorite artists by streaming the whole first weekend live on YouTube.
Speaking of VIP entertainment experiences, there is a brewing battle over premium large format screens at multiplexes all over the world. You might know these types of auditoriums as IMAX, though not for long if your local cinema chain has anything to say about it.
Since it’s tax time here in the United States we uncover a few stories about how movie, television and theatre productions are not only skipping out on their taxes, but in fact getting huge subsidies courtesy of the tax man in most states.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including Stephen Colbert’s move to replace David Letterman, the motion picture Academy’s new high profile curator and James Cameron’s complaints about the latest blockbuster movies.
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Showbiz Sandbox 197: Studios Suffer A Summer of Blockbuster Flops
July 8, 2013
Hollywood is learning the hard way that big name movie stars don’t always guarantee the success of a tentpole release. This summer at least three mega-budget titles have tanked; Will Smith couldn’t save “After Earth”, Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum couldn’t rescue “White House Down” and even the casting of Johnny Depp as Tonto wasn’t enough to rustle up an audience for “The Lone Ranger”.
On the other hand, filmmaker Lee Daniels’ next film may not have a blockbuster-size budget, but it does feature an all-star cast that includes the likes of Forest Whitaker, Robin Williams and Oprah Winfrey. Now all it needs is a new name, since a 1916 Warner Bros. short has already laid claim to “The Butler” causing Daniels and distributor The Weinstein Company to call out the lawyers.
Meanwhile, as we await the court’s verdict in the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple over the pricing of e-books, it turns out Amazon has quietly been raising the ante on a lot of titles, especially those from academic and small presses.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the Academy’s new members, Jennifer Lopez in Turkmenistan and the cost of purchasing a Tony Award.
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