Showbiz Sandbox 569: Are Music Catalog Deals Overvalued?
January 18, 2022
Every week it seems another aging artist is selling off their music publishing rights for exorbitant amounts. Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, ZZ Top, David Bowie’s estate and recently Bruce Springsteen. Why are so many back catalogs for sale and are they really worth hundreds of millions of dollars? Ryan Faughnder, a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times discusses his latest article which tackles this very issue.
Meanwhile, streaming numbers for television shows, series, and movies for the last few weeks of 2021 were finally published. The top ten original programs were dominated by Netflix, which might be why they decided to “update” their pricing. Translation; they are raising prices, at least in North America.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the British government is freezing funding for the BBC, Spotify shutters its podcasting studio and this year’s SAG Awards nominations.
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Showbiz Sandbox 412: Canceling “Roseanne” Was A No Brainer for ABC
June 4, 2018
Never before has a major broadcast network canceled a number one rated television show, let alone done so within hours of a brewing controversy sparked by one of its stars. Yet that’s exactly what happened last week when a racist tweet from Roseanne Barr caused ABC to ax the popular reboot of her eponymous hit sitcom. What’s remarkable is not only the unprecedented nature of the move, but more so the speed at which the decision was made and carried out.
Meanwhile the Tony Awards are being held next week to honor the best new Broadway productions, however there is little suspense over who will win since it’s already seen as a foregone conclusion. That’s why we look ahead to next year’s theater season and tell you which shows we’d back as investors.
And MoviePass is once again in the news, though this time it’s not for their subscription movie ticket service but rather a film they are co-distributing in North America. Turns out they may have an indie-hit on their hands.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why YouTube stars are so stressed out, how much Taylor Swift is raking in with her latest tour and Neil Portnow will step down as the head of the Recording Academy.
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Showbiz Sandbox 221: Sundance Returns To Its Indie Roots (Again)
January 20, 2014
Celebrities, filmmakers and industry executives are in the midst of their annual pilgrimage to Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. Thanks to digital technology it’s never been easier to make or distribute a low budget film. This has led to a glut of indie productions looking for audiences and no way to know which are worth watching.
This year’s Sundance began the day Oscar nominations were handed out and the festival’s founder was overlooked for his critically praised performance in “All Is Lost”. (Awkward). With nine films competing for Best Picture, and guild awards not being hounded out to consistent winners, it looks as if this will be one of the closest Oscar races in recent memory.
Meanwhile, an appeals court ruling may have finally killed Net Neutrality, much to the joy of Internet service providers everywhere. This means the cost of streaming online music and video may soon rise significantly.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including a Broadway bound musical adaptation of Disney’s “Frozen”, the declining appeal (and ratings) of “American Idol” and the most popular show on daytime television.
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Showbiz Sandbox 123: DVR Data Can Save TV Shows From Cancellation
October 17, 2011
It turns out your DVR can be helpful beyond just recording your favorite television shows. Examining which commercials you skip past might be able to help predict box office flops and monitoring which shows you watch can save a borderline series from being canceled. We’ll debate whether television networks and movie studios can benefit from the data being collected from your DVR.
Apple however may be trying to make your DVR obsolete. The long standing rumors that Apple might be working on a next generation television set have heated up once again. Would you welcome Apple into your living room?
Dozens of entries make up this year’s Best Foreign Language Oscar list, though all of them will ultimately be nominated. We’ll explain how the list ultimately gets whittled down to just five movies.
We also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Hulu is no longer for sale, why Jonny Depp’s “Lone Ranger” is back in production and how Amazon plans to make publishers unnecessary.
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