Showbiz Sandbox 338: CBS and Viacom May Wind Up Together After All
October 4, 2016
After originally splitting 10 years ago, Viacom and CBS may once again become a single organization. While a merger may help save Viacom, it doesn’t necessarily benefit the cash rich CBS. Even so, since the Redstone family owns the controlling share of both companies, it seems inevitable the two will once again be joined whether they like it or not.
Meanwhile the Federal Communications Commission has paused its attempt to wrestle the control of television set-top boxes away from cable providers, delaying a vote in order to clarify some of the rules included in the proposed legislation. That means consumers in the United States will still spend $20 billion for at least the next two years renting cable boxes.
At the box office, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” helped reverse the fortunes of Tim Burton’s latest films and even “Deepwater Horizon” may be not be the disaster some had predicted.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why NBC is dumping its “Mail Order Bride”, Disney plans on making a live-action version of “The Lion King” and a huge chunk of Rolling Stone magazine gets sold off.
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New California IMDb Age Law Probably Unconstitutional, Experts Say
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/new-california-imdb-age-law-932808
comScore Announces Official Worldwide Box Office Results for Weekend of October 2, 2016
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-for-weekend-of-october-2-2016-300337726.html
FCC Pulls Set-Top Box Rules From Meeting Agenda
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/09/29/fcc-pulls-set-top-box-rules-meeting-agenda/91264890/
The FCC is Putting Off a Historic Vote to Disrupt Your Cable Box
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/09/29/the-fcc-is-poised-to-disrupt-your-cable-box-heres-what-we-know-so-far/
By Gaslight by Steve Price
http://bookfilter.com/2015/12/08/by-gaslight/
Elena Ferrante’s ‘My Brilliant Friend’ Goes From Page to Stage
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/04/books/elena-ferrantes-my-brilliant-friend-goes-from-page-to-stage.html
Harry Styles: Happy One Direction Broke Up — It’s ‘Good’ To Explore New Things
http://hollywoodlife.com/2016/09/28/harry-styles-one-direction-split-exploring-different-things/
TV Ratings: Clinton-Trump Debate Tops 80-Million Record
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/debate-ratings-clinton-trump-showdown-932785
Amazon Bans Incentivized Reviews Tied to Free or Discounted Products
https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/03/amazon-bans-incentivized-reviews-tied-to-free-or-discounted-products/
‘Rolling Stone’ Sells Minority Share Of Magazine To Singapore Entrepreneur
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/25/495386067/rolling-stone-sells-minority-share-of-magazine-to-singapore-entrepreneur
‘Lion King’ Live-Action Movie in the Works From Disney
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/lion-king-live-action-movie-933335
ABC Greenlights Revival of ‘The Gong Show’ From Exec Producer Will Arnett
https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/the-gong-show-abc-game-show-revival-1201873383/
‘Star Trek Beyond’ Director Justin Lin Tackling ‘Hot Wheels’ for Legendary
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-trek-beyond-director-justin-933236
‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Scribe to Write Antoine Fuqua’s ‘Scarface’ Reimagining
https://variety.com/2016/film/news/terence-winter-scarface-reimagining-antoine-fuqua-1201872923/
‘Dynasty’ Reboot in the Works at The CW
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/dynasty-reboot-works-at-cw-934334
YouTube-MP3 Ripping Site Sued By IFPI, RIAA and BPI
https://torrentfreak.com/youtube-mp3-ripping-site-sued-by-ifpi-riaa-and-bpi-160926/
NBC’s ‘Mail Order Family’ Spiked After Backlash Over Ethnic Stereotyping, Human-Rights Concerns
https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/nbcs-mail-order-family-spiked-1201875283/#article-comments
Online Video Tipping Point Reached as Mobile Accounts for More Than Half of Viewing
http://www.rapidtvnews.com/2016092144385/online-video-tipping-point-as-mobile-accounts-for-more-than-half-of-viewing.html
TV Ratings: ‘Westworld’ Premiere Matches ‘True Detective’ Season 1
https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/tv-ratings-westworld-premiere-matches-true-detective-season-1-1201876517/
Spotify in Talks to Acquire SoundCloud
https://variety.com/2016/digital/news/spotify-soundcloud-acquisition-report-1201873039/
National Amusements Proposes Viacom, CBS Reunion, Cites “Substantial Synergies”
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/national-amusements-calls-viacom-cbs-933705
Viacom Forms Special Committee to Consider Merging With CBS
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/viacom-forms-special-committee-consider-934288
Michael Wolff on Shari Redstone and the Competing Narratives of Viacom’s Future
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michael-wolff-shari-redstone-competing-933212
‘NCIS’ Showrunner Gary Glasberg Dies at 50
https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/gary-glasberg-ncis-showrunner-dead-at-1201872973/#article-comments
Agnes Nixon, Creator of ‘All My Children’ and ‘One Life to Live,’ Dies at 93
http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/agnes-nixon-dead-dies-all-my-children-one-life-to-live-1201873095/
Gordon Davidson, Artistic Director of Mark Taper Forum, Dies at 83
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/04/theater/gordon-davidson-dead.html
QSC, LLC Announces the Acquisition of Ultra-Stereo Labs, Inc. (USL)
https://celluloidjunkie.com/wire/qsc-llc-announces-the-acquisition-of-ultra-stereo-labs-inc-usl/
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