Showbiz Sandbox 398: Streaming Services Crowd The Field During Super Bowl
February 5, 2018
The ratings for this year’s Super Bowl may have declined 7% and we might know why. After all, there were ads for Hulu, Netflix movies like “The Cloverfield Paradox,” Amazon Prime’s Jack Ryan series and even a few movies that might appear in theatres later this year. Oh, there was also a pretty good football game that came down to the last play.
The big game usually puts a damper on the box office in North America, but it certainly doesn’t help when new releases can’t hold their own against titles that opened in December. Even so, international grosses are where all the action is these days and over the past week a Bollywood title managed to beat out the latest “Maze Runner” installment in China. We’ll explain why.
Meanwhile, the Oscar race is coming into sharper focus now that the Director’s Guild has handed out their top awards to “The Shape of Water” and “Get Out”. It’s important to remember however, that the preferential ballot has managed to upend the Best Picture category recently.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why there is a petition for RIAA president Neil Portnow to resign, compact discs are slowly disappearing from retail outlets and Netflix may team up with Luc Besson.
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Showbiz Sandbox 218: Reports of Hollywood’s Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated
December 23, 2013
Beating up on the film business seems to be all the rage lately, as witnessed by the New York Times recently suggesting the industry was in “survival mode”. Yet the worldwide box office is about to break another all-time record and home video revenue actually went up in 2012. With grosses rising in several sectors, including television, why is there still a debate over the health of the business?
Speaking of debates, just about everyone this past week seemed to have an opinion about the controversial comments made by Phil Robertson, the 67-year-old patriarch of the family that runs the Louisiana hunting supply company depicted in the A&E reality series “Duck Dynasty”. Was the network too quick in their response by suspending Robertson?
Amazon and Target also acted quickly this past week when they announced they would not be selling physical copies of Beyoncé’s latest album after, in a surprise move just days before, she released it exclusively on iTunes.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including the end of Katie Couric’s daytime talk show, Shia LaBeouf’s plagiarism and how talent agencies are relying on sports to grow their business.
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Showbiz Sandbox 207: Which New TV Shows Are Hits? Ratings Alone Won’t Tell You
September 30, 2013
The new television season got off to a strong start last week with major broadcast networks celebrating higher prime-time viewership. That is what initial ratings results would lead one to believe, though such figures are increasingly inaccurate. Delayed viewing on DVRs and online has made it more difficult than ever to properly measure viewership in a timely fashion.
Changes are also afoot at the Oscars as the Academy is modifying the way animated films are nominated for Best Animated Feature. Rather than rely on a selection committee, a majority of the organization’s 6,000 members will now be able to participate in the nomination process by viewing films on screeners.
Meanwhile as the film industry moves from celluloid film to digital projection, object based audio is also being adopted over traditional channel based surround sound. Major studios recently made the issue more contentious by mandating any new audio be distributed in a common, non-proprietary format. Will this stifle future innovation in the cinema space?
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including why iTunes music purchases have started disappearing, Robocop returns to Detroit (literally) and “Star Wars” fans draft an open letter to director J.J. Abrams about how to make the franchise.
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Showbiz Sandbox 96: Why Facebook Is Becoming Your Friendly Neighborhood Video Store
March 14, 2011
In their never ending quest to replace declining DVD revenue movie studios have begun renting movies on Facebook. Such partnerships are focused on more than just sales, or finding a Netflix competitor, they are also about marketing. As Facebook users rent and purchase movies they’ll be transformed into a social marketing army.
Mel Gibson made headlines again last week accepting a plea deal in his spousal battery case. Whether moviegoers will forgive Gibson for recent ethnic slurs and racist comments will be tested when his next film, “The Beaver”, premieres at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. Meanwhile, Carlie Sheen, in between streaming his wacky behavior on the Internet, was also headed to court to file a $100 million lawsuit against Warner Bros. and sitcom producer Chuck Lorre.
Julie Taymor joined Sheen on the unemployment line. After spending nine years bringing the Broadway musical “Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark”, Taymor was replaced as the director of the expensive, beleaguered musical.
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