Showbiz Sandbox 272: Why The TV Industry Is Fighting Over Your Viewing Habits
March 9, 2015
Time-shifting content consumption has grown astronomically over the past several years thanks to technology like streaming and DVRs. Nearly half of all TV viewers no longer watch shows when they are first aired, upending the traditional ratings system used to measure audiences. Networks now want advertisers to pay for all the viewers of a program up to a week after its original telecast.
Presently, advertisers only pay for viewers of a show during the first three days after its broadcast, a timeframe the don’t wish to extend. Complicating the matter is a dramatic increase in the number of shows airing during primetime, fracturing audiences and forcing ad execs to sift through 1,700 programs in which commercials can be placed.
Buying ad time during the Academy Awards ceremony is usually a no-brainer for marketing moguls, however the Oscars telecast has become so predictably dull that it’s audience has begun to shrink. In an effort to boost ratings, the Academy’s Board of Governors is now hinting they may revert back to having only five Best Picture nominees, rather than the potential of ten. We debate why this is not such a good idea.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including the high profile court battle over the authoriship of a hit song, NBC goes over-the-top and Bruce Willis heads to Broadway.
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Global Box Office: ‘Jupiter Ascending’ Finds Redemption in China
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/global-box-office-jupiter-ascending-779980
Older Moviegoers Bolster Box Office of ‘The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/older-moviegoers-bolster-box-office-of-the-second-best-exotic-marigold-hotel/?_r=0
Dev Patel Handles Robots and Retirees in ‘Chappie,’ ‘Marigold 2’
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-dev-patel-chappie-second-best-exotic-marigold-hotel-20150305-story.html
Sony’s Amy Pascal Delays Office Move Due to Seth Rogen Pot Stench
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sonys-amy-pascal-delays-office-779086
Oscars: Academy Weighing Return to Five Best Picture Nominees
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-academy-weighing-return-five-779066
Oscar Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron Signal They Aren’t Returning
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscar-producers-craig-zadan-neil-779984
Bruce Willis to Make Broadway Debut in Adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘Misery’
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bruce-willis-make-broadway-debut-779292
China to Send 500 to 2015 BEA
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bea/article/65804-china-to-send-500-to-2015-bea.html
Samantha Bee of ‘Daily Show’ To Host New TBS Series
http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/samantha-bee-of-daily-show-to-host-funny-current-events-show-on-tbs-1201447194/
‘Blurred Lines’ Trial Reveals How Much Money Robin Thicke’s Song Made
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/blurred-lines-trial-reveals-how-778884
‘Midnight Rider’ Director Randall Miller Pleads Guilty In Train Death
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-midnight-rider20150309-story.html#page=1
Netflix Makes Another Bigscreen Splash With ‘Beasts of No Nation’
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/netflix-makes-another-bigscreen-splash-with-beasts-of-no-nation-1201444716/
Netflix Releasing ‘Beasts of No Nation’ Simultaneously in Theaters and Streaming Service
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/netflix-releasing-beasts-of-no-nation-simultaneously-in-theaters-and-streaming-service-1201445241/
Major Theater Chains to Boycott Netflix’s ‘Beasts of No Nation’
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/major-theater-chains-to-boycott-netflixs-beasts-of-no-nation-1201445636/
Late Night Ratings: NBC’s ‘Tonight Show’ Still Rolling One Year After Jimmy Fallon’s Debut
http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/late-night-ratings-nbcs-tonight-show-still-rolling-one-year-after-jimmy-fallons-debut-1201447118/
Fox’s ‘Empire’ Delivers Eighth Straight Week of Growth
http://variety.com/2015/tv/ratings/ratings-foxs-empire-delivers-eighth-straight-week-of-growth-1201446915/
NBC to Launch Comedy Internet-Subscription Service in 2015
http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/nbc-to-launch-comedy-internet-subscription-service-with-tonight-show-snl-episodes-report-1201445426/
TV Execs, Advertisers In 4-Day War Over Audience-Count Rules
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-tv-viewership-audience-20150305-story.html
Costume Designer Patricia Norris Dies at 83
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/costume-designer-patricia-norris-dies-dead-scarface-at-83-1201446183/
Albert Maysles, Pioneering Documentarian, Dies at 88
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/07/movies/albert-maysles-pioneering-documentarian-dies-at-88.html?_r=0
[…] like my Showbiz Sandbox co-host Michael Giltz, make a convincing argument that Netflix is missing out on the revenue opportunity release windows […]
Only about half of homes w TV have a DVR and a chunk of them don’t skip the commercials? Why would anyone with cable/satellite NOT have a DVR? You’re probably all but paying for one anyway. And why not skip commercials? To me, it’s like not having remote. The mind boggles! We talk about the rest of entertainment news on our free podcast; feel free to skip the bad jokes!
[…] like my Showbiz Sandbox co-host Michael Giltz, make a convincing argument that Netflix is missing out on the revenue opportunity release windows […]