Showbiz Sandbox 399: Why Can’t Hulu and Spotify Turn A Profit?
February 12, 2018
As consumers abandon physical media like compact discs and DVDs they are signing up for streaming services like Hulu and Spotify by the tens of millions. Even so, profitability has proven elusive for such companies. We’ll try and understand why, despite all their earnings and tons of headlines, such services continue to be in the red.
Meanwhile the movie awards season has reached a fever pitch, with the Writers Guild handing out their top awards to “Call Me By Your Name” and “Get Out.” Could the horror flick be gaining momentum in the Oscar race just like “Moonlight” did last year?
The Grammys may be over but Michael Giltz just finished his list of the best albums of 2017. Oce you move beyond the big prize for Album Of The Year, his picks have a lot in common with the winners at this year’s ceremony.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why Russia has launched a smear campaign against an Oscar nominated documentary, a hiccup in the sale of The Weinstein Company and a respected television executive gets picked to head up Amazon Studios.
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comScore Announces Official Worldwide Box Office Results for Weekend of February 11, 2018
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-for-weekend-of-february-11-2018-300596824.html
Box Office: Pad Man Is Second Highest Weekend Grosser of 2018 After Padmaavat
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/box-office-special-features/box-office-pad-man-is-second-highest-weekend-grosser-of-2018-after-padmaavat/
WGA Awards: ‘Get Out,’ ‘Call Me by Your Name’ Among Winners
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2018-wga-winners-full-list-1078506
Music: The Best Albums Of 2017 or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Streaming
https://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2018/02/music-best-albums-of-2018-or-how-i.html
White Horses by Amy Bloom – BookFilter
http://bookfilter.com/2018/02/08/white-houses/
Jill Messick’s Family Issues Blistering Statement on Harvey Weinstein and Rose McGowan
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jill-messicks-family-issues-blistering-statement-harvey-weinstein-rose-mcgowan-1083173
Refusing Weinstein’s Hush Money, Rose McGowan Calls Out Hollywood
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/28/us/rose-mcgowan-harvey-weinstein.html
38 Male Executives Call on Neil Portnow and Recording Academy to End Gender Disparity: ‘Now Is the Time to Lead’
http://variety.com/2018/music/news/38-male-executives-call-on-neil-portnow-and-recording-academy-to-end-gender-disparity-now-is-the-time-to-lead-1202690350/
‘Game of Thrones’ Creators to Write, Produce New ‘Star Wars’ Series of Films
http://variety.com/2018/film/news/star-wars-game-of-thrones-new-films-david-benioff-db-weiss-1202689489/
‘Star Wars’ TV Series: Disney Developing “a Few” for Its Streaming Service
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/star-wars-tv-series-disney-developing-a-few-streaming-service-1082523
Apple Music Has 36 Million Subscribers, On Pace to Overtake Spotify in U.S.: Report
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8098039/apple-music-growth-rate-us-subscriber-totals-spotify
Spotify Revenue Up 40%, On Track To $5B Year
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2018/02/spotify-revenue-up-40-on-track-to-5b-year-report.html
‘Russia Wants to Hack the Oscars’: Smear Campaign Targets Syrian Nominee
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/06/last-men-in-aleppo-feras-fayyad-syria-russia-smear-campaign
Futuristic New Arena Concept MSG Sphere Unveiled by James Dolan in New York Presentation
http://bway.ly/nqfxk#http://variety.com/2018/biz/news/msg-sphere-james-dolan-new-york-1202693595/
Bryan Fuller Exits Apple’s ‘Amazing Stories’ Anthology
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/bryan-fuller-exits-apples-amazing-stories-anthology-1078055
Weinstein Co. Sale In Doubt Due to Attorney General Intervention
http://variety.com/2018/biz/news/weinstein-co-attorney-general-sale-doubt-1202694711/
Comics Industry Asks ‘NYT’ to Restore Graphic Bestseller Lists
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/75998-comics-industry-asks-nyt-to-restore-graphic-bestseller-lists.html
MoviePass Cuts Price Again, Bundles Subscription With Fandor
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/moviepass-cuts-price-again-adds-streaming-1083507
MoviePass Surpasses 2 Million Subscribers
https://celluloidjunkie.com/wire/moviepass-surpasses-2-million-subscribers/
NBC’s Jennifer Salke Named Head of Amazon Studios
http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/amazon-studios-jennifer-salke-job-1202670167/
Hulu Lost $920 Million in 2017, After Parents Invested $1 Billion
http://variety.com/2018/digital/news/hulu-2017-losses-920-million-1202692000/
CAA Drops YouTuber Kian Lawley After He Gets Fired From Fox Movie
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fired-hate-u-give-actor-kian-lawley-dropped-by-caa-1082555
YouTube Suspends All Ads on Logan Paul’s Channels
http://variety.com/2018/digital/news/logan-paul-youtube-advertising-suspended-1202693482/
Unilever Threatens to Reduce Ad Spending on Tech Platforms That Don’t Combat Divisive Content
https://www.wsj.com/articles/unilever-threatens-to-reduce-ad-spending-on-tech-platforms-that-dont-combat-divisive-content-1518398578
Reg E. Cathay, ‘House of Cards’ and ‘The Wire’ Actor, Dies at 59
http://variety.com/2018/film/news/reg-cathey-dead-dies-the-wire-house-of-card-1202694366/
‘Frasier’ Star John Mahoney Dies at 77
http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/john-mahoney-dead-dies-frasier-1202688144/
Johann Johannsson, Visionary Composer Behind ‘Sicario,’ Dies at 48
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/johann-johannsson-visionary-composer-behind-sicario-dies-at-48-1083619
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