Showbiz Sandbox 447: The Madness of Media Moguls Making Mega-Millions
May 6, 2019
While the exorbitant salaries of the entertainment industry’s top executives are not a new phenomenon, the subject cropped up again recently after a relative of Walt Disney objected to the $65 million paycheck Disney CEO Robert Iger earned last year. That amounts to 1,424 times more than the average salary of a Disney employee. We debate whether Hollywood moguls should be earning hundreds of times more than their employees and why their compensation is so high in the first place.
On Broadway, Tony nominations were announced last week and they pack more drama and excitement than the creatively weak season that just ended. We’ll take a look and predict which shows will benefit the most from awards and the chance to perform live on TV.
Meanwhile, “Avengers: Endgame” continues to dominate the worldwide box office, earning $2 billion in just 11 days, faster than any film in history. That said, we wonder why Hollywood studios neglect to mention that their tentpole movies often begin showing on Thursdays.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including big changes at CBS News, YouTube scores some Major League Baseball games and why the London production of “Les Miserables” is getting a makeover
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Comscore Announces Official Worldwide Box Office Results for Weekend of May 6, 2018
https://ir.comscore.com/news-releases/news-release-details/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-113
Kevin Hart Plans ‘Extreme Job’ Comedy Remake at Universal
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kevin-hart-cj-entertainment-universal-team-crime-comedy-extreme-job-1205733
Tony Awards nominations 2019
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-tony-nominations-winners-2019-20190430-story.html
Les Miserables’ backstage staff facing redundancy threat as 50% of current musicians are axed
https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2019/les-miserables-backstage-staff-facing-redundancy-threat-50-musicians-axed/
John Napier Interview
https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/interviews/2019/designer-john-napier-interview-les-mis-gone-backwards-become-formulaic-not-radical/
Sinclair to Buy Fox Regional Sports Networks From Disney for $10.6 Billion
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sinclair-buy-fox-regional-sports-networks-disney-106-billion-1193249
YouTube Scores MLB 13-Game Package With Exclusive Rights in U.S., Canada
https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/youtube-mlb-live-game-package-exclusive-rights-1203201115/
Spotify Now Has 100M Paying Subcribers, Up 32% Year-On-Year
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/spotify-now-has-100m-paying-subscribers-up-32-year-on-year/
Nearly 40,000 Tracks Are Now Being Added to Spotify Every Single Day
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/nearly-40000-tracks-are-now-being-added-to-spotify-every-single-day/
California Film Commissioner Out Amid Leadership Shake-Up (Exclusive)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/california-film-commissioner-amy-lemisch-leadership-shake-up-1207004
“Empire” Renewed; Smollett Iffy
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/empire-renewed-season-6-as-jussie-smolletts-future-limbo-1206182
Jiosaavn Has Over 100M Monthly Active Users
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/jiosaavn-has-over-100m-monthly-active-users-could-it-be-indias-biggest-music-streaming-service/
Judge Overturns $128 Million ‘Bones’ Judgment in Huge Win for Fox
https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/bones-arbitration-against-fox-1203200504/
What the Media’s Most Powerful Executives Were Paid in 2018
https://variety.com/2019/biz/features/media-executives-salaries-2018-bob-iger-brian-roberts-reed-hastings-1203200542/
Profitable Giants Like Amazon Pay $0 in Corporate Taxes. Some Voters Are Sick of It.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/us/politics/democrats-taxes-2020.html
‘Because They Can’: Inside the Growing Debate on Media CEOs’ Jaw-Dropping Salaries
https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/david-zaslav-discovery-salary-media-ceos-1203200461/
Peter Mayhew Dies At 74
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/peter-mayhew-chewbacca-star-wars-dies-at-74-1207099
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