Showbiz Sandbox 475: Broadway Attendance Was Up and Box Office Was (Slightly) Down in 2019
January 6, 2020
Broadway produced its second highest grossing year in history during 2019, earning $1.7 billion, just 3% down from the year before. The season still managed to set a record for attendance, selling more tickets than any other season in modern history. Indeed, during the last decade attendance at Broadway shows was up 20% as ticket prices rose a whopping 70%.
Speaking of financial figures, the worldwide movie box office numbers are still being finalized for last year but it looks as if France and China may have set new records. So did Disney, whose movies grossed $11.1 billion globally, accounting for 33% of North America’s ticket sales.
Meanwhile, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association lent their voices to this year’s awards season by handing out their Golden Globes for achievement in film and television. Despite a few unexpected winners there was no indication there choices will hold sway of the Oscars in February.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the Kingdom of Jordan is banning a movie it helped fund, the Coachella Music Festival announces this year’s lineup and some popular works enter the public domain.
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Showbiz Sandbox 460: Spider-Man Exits The Marvel Cinematic Universe
September 2, 2019
The big-time Hollywood divorce that has the entertainment industry buzzing this summer is the acrimonious split between Sony Pictures and Walt Disney Studios over custody of the most popular character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Spider-Man. The agreement that allowed Sony to loan out the character for Disney’s Avenger films was unprecedented. But after Disney asked to share in the financing and profit of future Spidey films, Sony opted out of the relationship.
The latest Spider-Man movie was one of the biggest hits of the summer, though box office for the season was actually down. One might think that’s why AMC Cinemas is planning to experiment with dynamically pricing movie tickets, but actually it’s really because they just want to charge more for popular films.
Meanwhile, streaming giants like Netflix are premiering some of their high profile movies at the biggest fall film festivals just in time to kick off awards season. They even plan to show them in cinemas before allowing them to be streamed on their platform. Now all Netflix has to do is convince cinema chains to book them.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Eminem is suing Spotify, the Writers Guild takes its case against talent agents to federal court and why Taylor Swift wants to record all her old albums over again.
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Showbiz Sandbox 457: The Biggest Touring Musical Acts Are Older Than Ever Before
July 29, 2019
Take a quick look at the top earning worldwide concert tours and you might be surprised to discover that half of the top ten acts are over 50-years-old. Heck, the number one tour of the year thus far is Elton John and he’s over 70. In fact, thanks to acts like Fleetwood Mac and Bob Seger, the average age of the top ten global touring acts has surpassed 50 for the first time anyone can remember.
Inversely, the age of the top ten recording artists of the year is getting younger, dropping below 30-years-old. This is due in large part to artists such as Ariana Grande, Post Malone, Travis Scott and Khalid who are all under 30 and in the case of Billie Eilish, under 20. We try to understand the age disparity between today’s biggest recording artists and those making their money on the road.
Meanwhile, in China, the burgeoning movie business has fallen on hard times. This is especially true in the cinema industry, where theater owners are contending with a drop in audiences flocking to the glut of new multiplexes that have opened in recent years. At the same time rents for theater locations have skyrocketed and the government imposed quota of foreign releases means many exhibitors are running out of content to show.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the latest on the dispute between the Writers Guild and talent agencies, the Toronto and Venice Film Festivals announce their lineups and how Metallica got caught scalping their own concert tickets.
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Showbiz Sandbox 453: The Biggest Disaster in the History of the Music Industry
July 2, 2019
When a fire ripped through Universal Studios in Los Angeles back in 2008 it was initially feared that all of the historic films and music locked away in the vaults that burned were lost forever. At the time Universal reported that, quite miraculously, very little damage had occurred and that few, if any, of the master recordings in the vaults were damaged.
However, in an in-depth investigative piece The New York Times reports that the fire actually wiped out hundreds of thousands of invaluable masters of legendary recording artists such as Louis Armstrong, Chuck Berry, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Elton John, Nirvana and possibly hundreds of others. Universal Music Group continues to insist the loss is overstated, but artists are clamoring for more information and the first class action lawsuit has already been filed.
Meanwhile talks between the Writers Guild of America and the Association of Talent Agents over packaging fees and affiliate productions have stalled and now lawsuits have started to fly.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including which Broadway shows got a post-Tony Awards bump in grosses, J.J. Abrams lands at WarnerMedia and Celine Dion is leaving Las Vegas.
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Showbiz Sandbox 448: Georgia Is On Hollywood’s Mind
May 13, 2019
After the governor of Georgia signed a controversial and restrictive anti-abortion bill, many Hollywood productions are grappling over whether to boycott filming in the state. Heavyweights such as J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele whose HBO drama series begins production in Georgia next week say they are donating their proceeds to organizations fighting the new law. It has gotten to a point where actress Alyssa Milano is calling for women to hold a “sex strike.”
Meanwhile, for three weeks now “Avengers: Endgame” has dominated the worldwide box office in every country around the world. Well, every country except Japan where a new ‘Detective Conan’ movie has beat it out.
It’s also the time of year when television networks reveal which series are being canceled, renewed or picked up for next season. In an unusual move, NBC announced it would renew the hit show “This Is Us” for three more seasons, before the series comes to an end.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Rolling Stone magazine launches its own music charts to take on Billboard, Steve Harvey’s loses his talk show and even though it may not be up for Best Play at the Tony Awards, “To Kill A Mockingbird” has become the highest grossing American play in history.
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Showbiz Sandbox 435: Netflix By The Numbers
January 21, 2019
Despite having cultivated a reputation for keeping its viewership statistics under tight wraps, Netflix has made a complete about face and is now boasting about how many subscribers are tuning in to its original content. The company says nearly 45 million accounts watched its hit movie “Bird Box” and nearly as many watched its latest series “Sex Education”. In the midst of all this success, Netflix has decided to raise it’s monthly subscription fee by $2 in certain territories, including North America.
Unlike the Netflix subscription price, a number not on the rise is the theatrical box office in Germany. After edging up slightly in 2017, grosses in the 8th biggest movie-going market in the world were down 16% last year. Hollywood titles grabbed 75% of the $965 million box office as attendance also dipped 15.5%.
Meanwhile, award season continues with no clear frontrunner emerging as this year’s Oscar nominations are about to be revealed. We take a glance at the makeup, costume and directors guilds awards, not to mention the BAFTAS and nods from one group that really matters; the Producers Guild.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why RCA Records is dropping R. Kelley from its label, the Emmys are dumping DVD screeners and sportscaster Bob Costas is leaving NBC.
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Showbiz Sandbox 430 – Taylor Swift Helps Fellow Artists With Her New Record Deal
November 26, 2018
When her current recording contract expired at Big Machine, Taylor Swift went looking for a new label. After a heated bidding war, Swift wound up at Universal Music landing a deal that allows her to retain control of her masters. Swift also demanded that if the label ever sold its share in Spotify that she get a cut. More importantly, she insisted on this for every single act in Universal’s roster.
This is especially notable because Swift is not a big player in music streaming, because she holds back her albums with a window to urge fans to purchase them instead. Unfortunately, the sales of physical albums, like vinyl LPs and CDs, is collapsing, causing many artists to get out of the habit of actually creating them. Instead, some big acts release a constant stream of singles, videos and live cuts since that’s how their fans listen to music these days.
Meanwhile the North American box office continues to chug along at 10% over last year’s tally, with a record breaking $12 billion in sight. That growth rate is keeping pace with the Chinese box office, which is up 11% this year, earning $8.1 billion thus far. Maybe the date for when China’s theatrical box office will surpass that of North America’s needs to be pushed back a year or two.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why pop stars may be headed to Broadway, how YouTube has begun showing blockbuster movies (with ads) and the winners of this year’s International Emmy Awards.
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Showbiz Sandbox 400: The Long, Slow Death of Barnes & Noble
February 19, 2018
As Barnes & Noble loses an ever increasing number of customers to Amazon, the largest bookstore chain in the United States continues struggles to remain a viable business, if not relevant. Now comes word the retailer has cut 1,800 workers representing all of its full-time in-store staff. Should this last ditch effort to stay in business fails, the publishing industry is in for a world of hurt.
Meanwhile, “Black Panther” roared into theaters, shattering records as it came out on top of this week’s worldwide box office, despite Chinese New Year releases earning over half a billion dollars. Will the success of a big budget movie with a minority cast change the culture of Hollywood and the kinds of projects it chooses to make?
The BAFTA Awards were held on Sunday, reinforcing what everyone is saying about this year’s Oscar race: the acting categories look to be locked in stone, but Best Picture is still up for grabs.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news with special guest Karen Woodward, including television producer Ryan Murphy’s rich deal at Netflix, musician Justin Timberlake’s upcoming tour is a huge hit even before tickets go on sale and why MoviePass is in the news yet again.
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Showbiz Sandbox 367: Netflix Makes Waves At the Cannes Film Festival
May 24, 2017
If the Cannes Film Festival’s decision to premiere two Netflix films in competition was controversial when it was announced, it was all anyone could talk about once the festival actually began. It didn’t help that this year’s jury president, director Pedro Almodovar of Spain, made headlines on the first day when he was mis-translated as saying he wouldn’t award films that won’t play in cinemas with any prizes.
Just about every filmmaker and movie star attending Cannes has been asked about their opinion on the streaming versus cinema debate, though most have offered ambivalent answers, realizing that their next paycheck might be coming from Netflix or a similar service. To be sure, the discussion is far from over.
Meanwhile, after recent terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including nearby Nice, security has been tighter than ever for the more than 50,000 attendees in Cannes this year. This has caused delays at festival events for the first time in recent memory, though everyone has been very understanding. Especially this week, after bomb was set off at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England killing 22 people.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how TV networks are learning to take advantage of Ramadan to boost viewership, King Kong will try to tackle Broadway and Jimmy Kimmel will return as the host of next year’s Oscar telecast.
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Showbiz Sandbox 362: What’s The Flipping Problem With Record Store Day?
April 17, 2017
This year’s Record Store Day is just days away, but what began as a way to support independent record stores has turned into a covert commercial endeavor for those reselling the event’s exclusive vinyl releases at exorbitant prices. Sal Nunziato, a former record store owner himself, joins us to discuss why he’s never been all that fond of the annual promotion.
These days Nunziato is a music blogger and drummer in the band the John Sally Ride. Their new album, “A New Set of Downs” will be released later this year, but in a unique twist, is already available on platforms such as Spotify and Soundcloud. He’ll tell us all about it.
Meanwhile, even though ESPN has lost 12 million subscribers in the past six years, the cable sports network is still very profitable, generating $11 billion per year for its owner, Disney. But with skinny cable bundles and online streaming eating into its subscriber base, ESPN is girding itself for an unknown future.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including the launch of YouTube TV, Spotify finally signs a new deal with a major record label, and Harry Potter wins big it at this year’s Olivier Awards.
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