Showbiz Sandbox 411: Everybody Has An Excuse For Lackluster “Solo”
May 28, 2018
On paper Han Solo seemed like the most obvious character for which to pursue a standalone Star Wars spinoff, however the resulting movie, “Solo,” opened to less than stellar numbers. What’s worse, the movie didn’t fly internationally either. Whether it was the film’s highly publicized production troubles or a case of franchise fatigue, everyone involved will be able to point the finger at someone else for the end result.
Meanwhile, just as Disney begins reexamining how many Star Wars films they should release in a single year, they may have to revise their offer for Twentieth Century Fox. Comcast came along last week and beat Disney’s purchase price, upping the ante to $60 billion in what would be an all-cash deal.
Production coordinators aren’t asking for that kind of money, but they are asking to be unionized. Such a move might help those who are employed in what has become an essential position on any film or television crew from having to renegotiate their fees on every new production.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including a K-Pop band tops the billboard charts, Harvey Weinstein is charged with sexual assault and James Bond heads to Universal Pictures.
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Showbiz Sandbox 365: As Cord-Cutting Grows, Media Company Revenue Falls
May 8, 2017
Media company stocks took a beating last week with a one-two punch from cord-cutting and a soft ad market. The first quarter of 2017 saw pay cable subscriptions fall by over 700,000 in the United States, the largest ever such loss. This has caused some concern that cord-cutting has accelerated just as major advertisers have started to spend less on marketing.
However, television networks may just be shifting where revenue comes from. Rather than huge carriage fees and ad rates tied to huge viewership, networks may now be earning money off licensing content to streaming video providers and selling ads on digital platforms. There’s just one problem; such digital platforms pay far less than networks used to getting.
Warner Music Group is also suffering from shrinking revenues thanks to consumer migration to streaming online services. The company signed a new licensing agreement with YouTube, but they aren’t happy with a deal they felt forced into accepting. We’ll explain why.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the multiple “Game of Thrones” spin-offs planned by HBO, Harry Potter heads to Broadway and the return of “American Idol”.
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Showbiz Sandbox 186: Bill Carter of the NY Times on Cable Ratings, Jay Leno and the Shifting Television Landscape
March 18, 2013
Bill Carter of the New York Times has been reporting on the television industry for over 30 years. Who better to ask about why nothing seems to make any sense about this year’s television season? For example, cable shows have been pulling in more viewers than any of the networks. Broadcast networks that were topping the ratings just months ago, are now struggling at the back of the pack. As if that wasn’t enough, it looks as if the battle over late night programming is heating up again.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Carter touches on everything from the reason networks have been cutting back their original programming to why ratings have become so complicated to tabulate (hint: it has to do with DVRs). He explains all the troubles NBC is having not only in primetime, but also with their morning news programming. Carter literally wrote the book on late night television (actually two of them), so his thoughts about which of the ever growing list of hosts is most dominant, and why, is rather insightful.
Meanwhile, the Cannes Film Festival announced the selection of Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” as their opening night film. What stunned many Cannes veterans is that the festival would choose a film which will open theatrically in North America just five days before it premieres on the Croisette this May.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines, including “Django” in China, “Veronica Mars” on Kickstarter and David Bowie’s return to the music sales charts.
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Showbiz Sandbox 183: Going Inside This Year’s Oscars With Anne Thompson
February 25, 2013
As one of the hosts of the Oscar Talk podcast and the editor of Indiewire’s Thompson on Hollywood blog, it’s no wonder Anne Thompson beat out most other award season experts by correctly predicting 19 out of 24 winners at this year’s Academy Awards. Thompson attended the Oscar ceremony in-person and confirms that Seth MacFarlane was no better live than on television.
Less than 24-hours after “Argo” won Best Picture and shortly after returning from the Governor’s Ball, Thompson recaps a whirlwind weekend that had her hobnobbing at the Spirit Awards awards on Saturday then walking the red carpet at Sunday’s Oscars. Rough life, to be sure.
In television news, it turns out most the of the hour-long network dramas premiering at mid-season have failed to find an audience. Maybe now that Nielsen is including online streaming in their ratings viewership will rise for some of these shows, but we wouldn’t count on it.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Billboard revamping music charts to include YouTube views, Shia LaBeouf drops out of his Broadway debut and Google’s plans for music streaming.
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Showbiz Sandbox 176: Hollywood Unchained – 2012 Sets Another Box Office Record
January 7, 2013
Once again Hollywood raked in record earnings at the North American box office in 2012, though this time it wasn’t because of increased ticket prices. In fact, both revenue and attendance were up nearly 6% during the year as 1.36 billion tickets were sold to set a new annual box office record of $10.8 billion.
Internationally box office receipts were off slightly. After a string of years with record grosses, Hollywood movies raked in $13.5 billion outside North America. The new year is looking up as well since nine films pegged as Oscar contenders are all still raking in big grosses.
The music business didn’t have such good news. Album sales during 2012 declined 4.4% in the United States where Adele spent a second year at the top of the heap. What’s noteworthy is that digital downloads outpaced physical album sales for the first time according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the sale of Al Gore’s cable network, the rising ratings for Big Bang Theory and why YouTube is deleting views for music videos.
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Showbiz Sandbox 101: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner To Corner Office
May 2, 2011
Starting out on the streets of Brooklyn, New York as a drug dealer in the late 1980s, hip-hop star Jay-Z has transformed himself into a recognizable brand encompassing music, clothing, restaurants, nightclubs and an NBA basketball team. Our guest this week is Forbes staff writer Zack O’Malley Greenburg who tells the improbable story of how Jay-Z rose to the top of the business world in his new book, “Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went from Street Corner to Corner Office
Another brand that has proven their business acumen is home video subscription service Netflix. The company, which reported record first quarter numbers this past week, soon will have a number of competitors, including the likes of YouTube, DirecTV and Comcast.
Maybe Vin Diesel can turn himself into a mega-brand, proving he can still open a film on a global scale with “Fast Five”, the fifth installment in the “The Fast and The Furious” franchise. The film earned mega-bucks this past weekend, despite being up against the summer blockbuster “Thor” in international territories.
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