Showbiz Sandbox 474: YouTube and Facebook Curtail Their Streaming Subscriptions

Facebook and YouTube might be giants in technology and media, but they have both decided to sit out the streaming wars. Sure, they’re spending $1 billion per year producing original content but pales in comparison to what the Apples and Amazons and Peacocks and HBO Maxes of the world are shelling out for new content. So, Facebook and YouTube have decided to keep their video offerings free and ad-supported.

As 2019 comes to a close with one of the biggest movie-going weeks of the year it looks as if the industry will end a semi-happy note, with record international box office, perhaps a new worldwide box office record and the second biggest North American haul in history.

Meanwhile, China added another 8,800 movie screens this year, bringing the country’s grand total to a titch under 69,000 in all. And most of the hits playing on those screens are Chinese films and that’s just the way the government wants to keep it.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Universal Pictures may have released a new version of “Cats” after it was already in theaters, live news and sports dominates the year’s basic cable ratings and Spotify gets out of politcs.

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Showbiz Sandbox 473: There Is A Disturbance In The Chinese Force

The “Star Wars” franchise was never a huge phenomenon in China the way it was elsewhere in the world, so it wasn’t much of a shock when the latest installment, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” flopped in its opening weekend in the country. It even came in second behind a local martial arts epic from Donnie Yen. In fact, eight out of the top ten earning movies in China during 2019 were homegrown hits as the country’s annual box office reached new heights.

The box office won’t break any records in North America this year, despite the strong opening of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” A film version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Cats” sure isn’t helping either. It opened to scathing reviews and grosses to match. Good news though, a new version of the film should be in theaters for its second week.

Meanwhile, Netflix released subscriber info region by region and investors liked what they heard. Obviously, Netflix has hit peak subscribership in the United States, but when you look at how the company is doing in the rest of the world, you can see its customer base is growing substantially.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including a new owner for Miramax, NBC/Universal reveals the pricing for the upcoming streaming service and “South Park” rules cable television for the seventh year in a row.

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Showbiz Sandbox 472: The Growing Dominance of Netflix Movies During Awards Season

As Hollywood’s major guilds begin announcing their nominations for best films of the year a trend seems to be emerging; Netflix is becoming a player in prestige cinema. Similar to how cable networks disrupted the domination of broadcast companies at the Emmys, the streaming giant has a growing number of entries vying for top awards.

In China the government has had to pivot from censoring basketball to worrying about how to deal with soccer now that one of the sports star players has spoken out over the protests taking place in Hong Kong. Can the government continue to pull sports off the airwaves without creating a huge programming problem?

Meanwhile, there has been some industry murmurings about the lack of big titles from Marvel or Lucasfilm on next year’s release schedule, leading some to believe box office will be down significantly. We take a quick look at some of the upcoming 2020 releases and explain why there is no need to panic.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the controversy that might break the reality show “Survivor,” why Billboard is adding video streaming to its album charts and the National Film Registry announces its latest selections.

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Showbiz Sandbox 471: A Harsh Verdict from Former “America’s Got Talent” Judges

After just one season on “America’s Got Talent” celebrity judges Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough had done what they were hired to do; increase the show’s social media footprint. Yet their contracts were not renewed for a second season and Union gained a huge amount of attention for her claims the show has a toxic culture. The show’s producers and network NBC are being very careful in how they handle the situation.

In Hong Kong, mass protests continue to disrupt the city and its significant entertainment industry. The ongoing demonstrations have affected Asian year-end awards, Hong Kong’s box office and generally made it harder to do business for entertainment companies who are both trying to please China yet show they have a moral compass.

Meanwhile, it looks as if this year won’t set any North American box office records, though it might be the second highest on record. Disney, however, has nothing to worry about as they set theatrical earnings records thanks to a string of billion dollar releases.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Golden Globe nominations, the bidding war ver Ali Wong’s next comedy special and Comcast looks to expand in the United Kingdom.

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Showbiz Sandbox 470: The End of the Paramount Consent Decree

The Department of Justice has announced their intention to jettison the Paramount Consent Decree, the agreement that ended the studio system and under which the film industry has operated for the past 70 years. What will this mean for movie theater operators moving forward? Now that studios have become big media conglomerates will they behave anti-competitively?

Speaking of agreements, more mid-level talent agencies have signed the Writers Guild of America’s code of conduct. In the process, these agencies have gotten the WGA to agree not to enforce the ban on television packaging until one of four major firms signs on.

Meanwhile, the Thanksgiving holiday weekend was once again a time for audiences to return to cinemas en masse. However this year instead of going to see the latest blockbuster sequel, moviegoers actually sought out original films.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the Grammy nominations, why Netflix bought a movie theater in New York City and the controversy over the firing of Gabrielle Union from “America’s Got Talent.”

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