Showbiz Sandbox 180: Binge-Viewing Is Transforming The Way We Watch Television

February 4, 2013

With new streaming media services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime popping up all the time, we now have the ability to watch entire seasons of episodic television series all at once.  Now Netflix is taking binge-viewing one step further by releasing all 13-episodes of their original drama series “House of Cards” at once.  Dawn Chmielewski of the Los Angeles Times explains how the trend is altering narrative structures, existing revenue models and the entire television landscape.

Speaking of television, the Super Bowl proved once again to be a huge ratings bonanza with more than 108 million viewers tuning in to the football championship game.  Unfortunately a power outage delayed the airing of a post-game television show which had hoped to get a boost from carryover viewers.

Meanwhile, Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” continues to top the worldwide box office, leading a pack of Oscar contenders that continues to attract big audiences well into the new year.

Of course we also cover the top entertainment headlines from the past week including news about a film version of the hit series “Entourage”, plans for subscription channels on YouTube and Ticketmaster (sort of) ditches its horrible security system.

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Showbiz Sandbox 166: How MoviePass Unlimited Moviegoing Service Really Works

October 9, 2012

When MoviePass announced an unlimited moviegoing subscription service last year it faced stiff resistance from cinema owners and film studios. Now, MoviePass has relaunched with a revamped offering that doesn’t need approval from either group. Stacy Spikes, the CEO of MoviePass, joins us to explain why this time the company will succeed.

Over in the world of music, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced this year’s nominees. The likes of Randy Newman, Donna Summer, Public Enemy and Rush head up what has been considered by many to be a very weak list. At least this year however fans get to vote for their favorite nominees.

Meanwhile, Broadway has been consumed with the story of how “Rebecca”, a musical based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, went up in flames just weeks before opening. Despite having major talent enlisted to write, direct and choreograph, not to mention an ongoing ad campaign, it turns out on of the investors behind the production may have been completely made up.

Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including a huge debut for Mumford and Sons second album, why MTV is getting out of the “Jersey Shore” business and how Lil Wayne bested Elvis (sort of).

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