Showbiz Sandbox 398: Streaming Services Crowd The Field During Super Bowl

February 5, 2018

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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.

comScore Announces Official Worldwide Box Office Results for Weekend of February 4, 2018
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-for-weekend-of-february-4-2018-300593119.html

Sony Chief Hands Over Reins After Resurgence
https://www.wsj.com/articles/sonys-kazuo-hirai-to-step-down-as-ceo-1517548358

Bollywood Movie ‘Secret Superstar’ Beats Out ‘Maze Runner’ Sequel in China
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-china-box-office-20180131-story.html

DGA Awards: Guillermo del Toro and ‘The Shape of Water’ Take Best Film Prize
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/dga-awards-2018-winners-list-full-1078501

Annie Awards: ‘Coco’ Tops the Animation Celebration
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2018-annie-award-winners-complete-list-1067856

‘120 BPM’ Leads France’s Cesar Awards Nominations
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/frances-cesar-awards-nominations-unveiled-1079655

History Greenlights Unscripted Series in Search of Hosted and Executive Produced by Zachary Quinto
http://www.aenetworks.com/article/history-greenlights-unscripted-series-search-hosted-and-executive-produced-zachary-quinto

The Heart Is a Shifting Sea by Elizabeth Flock – BookFilter
http://bookfilter.com/2017/05/03/the-heart-is-a-shifting-sea/

Equity Calls For Tighter Audition Processes to Protect Actors From Harassment
https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2018/equity-calls-tighter-audition-processes-protect-actors-harassment/

Disney Animation Sets Staff “Day of Listening” Amid Speculation Over John Lasseter’s Fate
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-animation-sets-staff-day-listening-speculation-john-lasseter-s-fate-1080339

Petition Asking Neil Portnow to Step Down From Recording Academy After ‘Step Up’ Comments Nears 10,000 Signatures
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/grammys/8097469/neil-portnow-petition-firing-recording-academy

Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow Announces Grammys Task Force to Address Biases Against Female Advancement
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8097732/grammys-neil-portnow-recording-academy-task-force-women

Female Executives Call for Neil Portnow’s Resignation From Recording Academy: ‘You Are Part of the Problem’
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8097738/grammys-neil-portnow-female-executives-resignation-letter

Best Buy to Pull CDs, Target Threatens to Pay Labels for CDs Only When Customers Buy Them
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8097929/best-buy-to-pull-cds-target-threatens-to-pay-labels-for-cds-only-when

Spotify Adds Songwriter Credits to Desktop Platform – And They’re Coming To Mobile
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/spotify-adds-songwriter-credits-desktop-platform-theyre-coming-mobile/

Netflix in Talks With Luc Besson and EuropaCorp on Multi-Picture Deal
http://variety.com/2018/film/news/netflix-talks-with-luc-besson-europacorp-multi-picture-deal-1202681501/

Editorial: It’s Time for Publishers to Join the Fight for Net Neutrality
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/columns-and-blogs/editorials/article/75856-it-s-time-for-publishers-to-join-the-fight-for-net-neutrality.html

Why We Closed Our Doors To Defend Net Neutrality
http://blog.sonos.com/en/net-neutrality-grammys-sonos-store/

Publishers Call on Man Booker Prize to Drop American Authors
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/02/publishers-call-on-man-booker-prize-to-drop-american-authors

Apple’s Getting Back Into the E-Books Fight Against Amazon
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/apple-is-said-to-ready-revamped-e-books-push-against-amazon

New Walmart Partnership Brings Retailer Into the E-Book Game
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/retailing/article/75910-new-walmart-partnership-brings-retailer-into-the-e-book-game.html

Chinese Police Seize Publisher From Train in Front of Diplomats
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/world/asia/china-police-bookseller-train-gui-minhai.html

In Atlanta, Concessions Prices Go Down and Revenue Goes Up
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/sports/football/nfl-concessions.html

Netflix, Amazon, and HBO handed NBC Millions for Super Bowl Ads
http://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-amazon-and-hbo-handed-nbc-millions-for-super-bowl-ads-as-they-try-and-kill-tv-2018-2

YouTube TV Strikes Unprecedented Deal for Pro Sports TV Rights
http://variety.com/2018/digital/news/youtube-tv-soccer-rights-los-angeles-football-club-1202682004/

Advertisers Eschew Politics for Humor in Super Bowl Commercials
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/04/business/media/super-bowl-commercials.html

‘Glee’ Actor Mark Salling Dies at 35
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mark-salling-dead-glee-actor-dies-at-35-1080090

Temptations Former Lead Singer Dennis Edwards Dead at 74
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/temptations-lead-singer-dennis-edwards-dead-at-74-w516296

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