Showbiz Sandbox 591: Live Sports Becomes the Costliest Battle of the Streaming Wars
August 30, 2022
There is no better evidence that the streaming wars are still in full swing than the news that streaming services are accounting for more viewing than cable television for the first time in history. As streaming media companies fight for market share, they have turned to live sports as a means of driving subscriber growth. However, vying with traditional networks for broadcast rights has driven the cost of live sports to record setting levels.
While there might be an audience for live sports, new data shows attendance has fallen by as much as 50% for live performances such as Broadway, opera and classical music concerts. Pop concert tours, on the other hand, have never been more successful, or more expensive.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the reason some movie stars are ditching social media for their own sanity, the second largest movie theater chain in the world may file for bankruptcy and why Mariah Carey should not become the Queen of Christmas.
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Showbiz Sandbox 590: New Warner Bros. Discovery Strategy Is A Little Batty
August 9, 2022
The newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery held its first earnings call last week making so many headlines it was all anyone in the entertainment industry could talk about. The company has a ton of debt, but a plan to get into better financial shape; stop producing expensive scripted shows, shelve pricey projects and layoff thousands of employees. Most controversially the media giant decided to completely abandon the nearly finished DC movie, “Batgirl.”
Speaking of comic book movies, the Wall Street Journal believes Disney’s Marvel titles are in a bit of a slump. Their movies are grossing less, getting worse reviews are not a big deal on social media. Do people even like superhero movies anymore?
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the story behind all those expensive Springsteen tickets, why Beyonce is changing the lyrics to one of her recent songs and why “To Kill A Mockingbird” is leaving Broadway.
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