Showbiz Sandbox 427: Debating This Year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominees

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio announced next year’s nominees for induction into it’s prestigious institution, setting off the annual bickering over who should or shouldn’t get in. Is the British heavy metal band Def Leppard more deserving than the gothic rock darlings The Cure? Bands such as Roxy Music and Radiohead with their lengthy history seem like no-brainers, but what about popular acts like Rage Against the Machine who only ever released four albums? We take an educated and opinionated guess on which nominees we think should make the cut.

In China, box office began to slow down considerably in August for the same reason grosses decline in other parts of the world; a lack of hit movies. It doesn’t help that subsidies from online ticketing platforms are now being blocked by the government, as is the practice of distributors buying bulk tickets to their own films to boost box office.

Meanwhile, the rush by every media company on the planet to launch their own streaming platform has created an environment where consumers might begin to push back against having to pay for so many subscription services. WarnerMedia is the latest to announce plans for a streaming play.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the nominees for the National Book Award, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham sues Fleetwood Mac and a new television series will depict the formation hip hop legends Wu Tang Clan.
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Showbiz Sandbox 250: TV Ratings Have Become Messy, Misleading and Downright Maddening

Picking the winners and losers out of this year’s new television shows has never been more difficult. Just ask Marc Berman, editor-in-chief of TV Media Insights, joins us to explain how DVR’s and on-demand viewing have made overnight TV ratings very problematic. Berman says that these days the number of viewers watching a show when it airs is less important than its total audience during the week that follows.

Those looking for entertainment on a screen larger than the average television can head to movie theaters where they can watch the recently released “Maze Runner” in the new Barco Escape format. The experimental offering wraps three screens around the audience to provide a 270 degree viewing experience.

At the other end of the spectrum there are screens of a less significant size, like those found on the ever increasing number of e-readers. Amazon continues to improve its Kindle line and new the latest gadgets from Apple have excited publishing industry observers. We’ll explain why.

Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including Sony’s $2 billion loss, Stevie Wonder heads out on tour and the twentieth anniversary of the sitcom “Friends”.

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Showbiz Sandbox 80: Disney Dumps Fairy Tales For Original Stories

As “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” debuted to $125 million in its opening weekend, Disney prepared to release its 50th animated feature film less than a week later. However, despite building a multi-billion dollar empire based on stories that feature princesses, according to Dawn C. Chmielewski of the Los Angeles Times “Tangled” may be the last fairy tale we see out of the studio. She joins us to explain how future Disney Animation titles will focus on original stories.

Reality shows continue to dominate television news, not to mention political news. The media seemed all abuzz last week over how Bristol Palin, the daughter of Sarah Palin, had not yet been voted off “Dancing With the Stars”. She even beat out pop stars such as Brandy. There were accusations that conservative Tea Party supporters were rigging the voting on the show.

Meanwhile, Justin Bieber swept the American Music Awards, winning four trophies including Artist of the Year. Unfortunately for Bieber though, nobody was watching since the telecast received the worst ratings in its history.

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