Showbiz Sandbox 358: The Skinny on YouTube’s New Live TV Service
March 6, 2017
With YouTube becoming the latest player to offer an over-the-top subscription streaming service it’s safe to say the the skinny television bundle has officially arrived. For $35 per month, subscribers can now get 40 channels of live TV including major networks and ESPN. YouTube TV also has a virtual DVR with no recording limits.
YouTube is entering an increasingly crowded market with competitors such as Dish Network’s Sling TV, AT&T’s DirecTV Now, Hulu and many others. But YouTube may have an advantage thanks to some powerful artificial intelligence that has helped increase worldwide viewing to over one billion hours per day, nearly as much as traditional television in the United States.
Now normally, two weeks after the Academy Awards we’d already be struggling to remember who won Best Score. But thanks to the most notorious screwup in Oscar history, we’re still talking about the broadcast and its fallout. We’ll explain why.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including the absurd controversy over Disney’s first gay character, Harry Potter tops the Olivier Awards with a record 11 nominations and Spotify reaches the 50 million subscriber mark.
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How Coachella Gained Lady Gaga After Losing Beyonce
http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7709328/how-coachella-booked-lady-gaga-beyonce-reaction-inside-story
comScore Announces Official Worldwide Box Office Results for Weekend of March 5, 2017
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-for-weekend-of-march-5-2017-300418153.html
Matt Damon’s ‘The Great Wall’ to Lose $75 Million; Future U.S.-China Productions in Doubt
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/what-great-walls-box-office-flop-will-cost-studios-981602
Number of Female Film Protagonists Hits High in 2016 (Study)
https://variety.com/2017/film/news/arrival-rogue-one-female-film-protagnoists-1201992678/
‘Godzilla Resurgence’ Wins Big at 40th Japan Academy Prize Awards
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/godzilla-resurgence-wins-big-at-40th-japan-academy-prize-awards-982922
Oscars Best Picture Fiasco: What PwC and the Academy Must Do to Manage the Fallout
https://variety.com/2017/film/news/oscar-best-picture-fiasco-the-academy-pricewaterhousecoopers-fallout-1201999036/
Oscars Producers, Academy Fail to Apologize to ‘La La Land’ Filmmakers for Best Picture Fiasco
https://variety.com/2017/film/news/oscar-best-picture-fiasco-academy-no-apology-1201998122/
Oscars: Academy Apologizes for Using Wrong Photo During In Memoriam Segment
http://variety.com/2017/film/awards/oscars-in-memoriam-jan-chapman-1202000106/
‘La La Land’ Concert to Debut at Hollywood Bowl
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/la-la-land-concert-debut-at-hollywood-bowl-983408
How The Academy Failed The Transparency Test
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-academy-failed-transparency-test-983188
The Wages of Sin by Katie Welsh – BookFilter
http://bookfilter.com/2016/06/08/the-wages-of-sin-3/
The Inheritance by Niki Kapsambellis – BookFilter
http://bookfilter.com/2016/06/30/the-inheritance-3/
The Price of Illusion by Joan Juliet Buck – BookFilter
http://bookfilter.com/2016/06/30/splendid-illusions/
Celine by Peter Heller – BookFilter
http://bookfilter.com/2016/06/13/celine/
Russia Considers ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Ban Over Gay Character
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/russia-considers-beauty-beast-ban-gay-character-983206
Theater Cancels Beauty and the Beast Due To Gay Character
http://ew.com/movies/2017/03/03/theater-beauty-and-the-beast-gay-character/
SXSW To Change Contract After 50+ “Outraged” Artists Send Open Letter Of Protest
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2017/03/sxsw-to-change-contract-after-50-outraged-artists-send-open-letter-.html
Olivier Awards 2017: Harry Potter Breaks Nominations Record
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-39178248
Obamas Make Book Deal With Penguin Random House
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/business/media/obama-book-deal-penguin-random-house.html
Obamas sign rumored $60-million book deal with Penguin Random House
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-obama-book-deal-bidding-20170228-story.html
‘The Big Bang Theory’ Stars Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch Seek Parity in New Contract
https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/the-big-bang-theory-contract-mayim-bialik-melissa-rauch-1201999243/
‘Gilmore Girls’ Revival May Be Revived Again at Netflix
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/gilmore-girls-revival-may-be-revived-again-at-netflix-983341
‘Modern Family’ in Limbo: Actors Without New Contracts as Season 8 Wraps
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/modern-family-limbo-actors-new-contracts-as-season-8-wraps-981026
Spotify Tops 50M Subscribers as Growth Rate Slows Down
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/spotify-tops-50m-subscribers-as-growth-rate-slows-down/
Ed Sheeran Obliterates Spotify Records with 68.7M Streams in a Day
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/ed-sheeran-obliterates-spotify-record-with-68-7m-streams-in-a-day/
Google Takes on Cable With ‘YouTube TV’—40 Channels for $35
https://www.wired.com/2017/02/youtube-tv-skinny-bundle/
YouTube Tops 1 Billion Hours of Video a Day, on Pace to Eclipse TV
https://www.wsj.com/articles/youtube-tops-1-billion-hours-of-video-a-day-on-pace-to-eclipse-tv-1488220851
More U.S. Households Now Have Netflix Than a DVR
https://variety.com/2017/digital/news/netflix-dvr-us-households-survey-1202002673/
Robert Osborne, Beloved Host of Turner Classic Movies, Dies at 84
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/advance-obit-robert-osborne-dead-727070
Finally! A way to get TV without having to pay my cable company $100 a month. Ok, so with YouTube TV, I get 40 channels including the major networks and ESPN. That’s $35. Oh, I’m gonna need broadband internet, so that’s at least $30. And Netflix. That’s $10. Oh and HBO, duh, Game Of Thrones. That’s another $15. Hmm, that’s $90 and I get 42 channels rather than 400, including CNN et al. Hmm….