Showbiz Sandbox 656: Yes, People Still Buy Books
April 30, 2024
Two recent opinion pieces stirred up some heated debate in the book publishing business. One insists no one buys books anymore. The other says the proliferation of book roundup lists is a bunch of nonsense. One is very wrong, even when it’s right. The other is right, but for the wrong reasons. Michael is our book guy and in fact does book roundups every week! So let’s put him on the hot seat.
Meanwhile, Nielsen recently overcame some technological hurdles and got cooperation from several new sources of streaming data. The result? A number of shows popped onto the streaming charts for the first time or with renewed force. The big beneficiary is Hulu, with Peacock a distant second.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault conviction was overturned by a New York court, Taylor Swift’s latest album breaks all sorts of streaming records and an update on a potential acquisition of Paramount Global.
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Showbiz Sandbox 655: Netflix Stops Sweating (and Reporting) Subscriber Growth
April 23, 2024
Netflix first quarter earnings report showed growth in all areas from subscribers, to revenue and income. But with Netflix clearly dominating competitors and entering a mature market, the streaming giant will no longer provide subscriber figures on a regular basis. Instead, Netflix will concentrate on profit and the amount of time each of their 270 million subscribers spend viewing programming on their platform.
Meanwhile, the long gestating sale of Paramount Global got a lot more interesting last week when Sony entered the picture with its own bid for the media conglomerate. Unfortunately, indie production house Participant Media was unable to find a buyer and abruptly shuttered.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Taylor Swift breaks her own sales records with the release of her album “The Tortured Poets Department” and the Sundance Film Festival may be in search of a new home.
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Showbiz Sandbox 654: CinemaCon Promotes A Bright Future for Movie Theatres
April 16, 2024
CinemaCon, the annual gathering of cinema operators in Las Vegas, was filled with anxiety this year thanks to a lack of wide releases due to the recent labor strikes. However, most Hollywood studios showed up with a few movie stars to hawk an increasing number of big titles due later in the year and into 2025. As well, technology companies introduced some exciting new advances in projection and image quality. In all, the conference pointed toward better days ahead for movie theaters.
In even better news, it looks as if the many behind-the-scenes craft people who work on films and television shows may not go on strike like the writers and actors did last year. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) appears to be having very positive negotiations with Alliance of Motion Picture Television Producers on a new contract.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Disney won its shareholder battle, the winners of this year’s Writers Guild Awards and CBS whips up a new streaming news service.
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Showbiz Sandbox 653: Godzilla and Kong, Once Again, Prove Movie Theaters Aren’t Dead
April 2, 2024
The monstrous global box office opening of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” may have been a surprise to film critics or anyone paying attention to industry tracking in advance of its release, but it surely proves that if you put movies in movie theaters, audiences will show up. Especially if those theaters offer premium auditoriums like IMAX. Even “Oppenheimer” opened well in Japan over this past weekend, becoming filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s biggest debut.
Meanwhile, the Walt Disney Company and the State of Florida have made overtures toward settling their recent legal disputes. As we predicted, despite the battle in the court of public opinion, it will all come to nothing.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Paramount Global’s ongoing financial woes, the discovery of some new Marvin Gaye music and how vinyl records are outselling compact discs.
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Showbiz Sandbox 649: Hollywood’s Superhero Movie Problem
February 27, 2024
The superhero movie is facing its biggest enemy yet – audience indifference. “Madame Web” is just the latest superhero flick to open to poor reviews and/or bad box office. Entertainment journalist Geoff Boucher, who has covered the comic book world for over two decades and is a bigwig at ComicCon, discusses the declining popularity of superhero films and his belief that there are better times ahead for the genre.
Meanwhile, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are facing their own existential threats, especially when it comes to their declining ad revenue, soft earnings and overwhelming debt.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Beyoncé making history on the country music charts, revenues soar for concert promoter Live Nation thanks to some big tours and artificial intelligence upends the expansion of Tyler Perry’s studio.
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Showbiz Sandbox 647: Disney Teams Up For Sports Streaming Service
February 13, 2024
Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox are teaming up to deliver a new subscription streaming service that will combine all of their sports programming on a non-exclusive basis. It will have 14 channels including ESPN, ABC, FS1, Fox, TNT and TBS. The surprise announcement has generated more questions than answers, especially over whether any antitrust laws are being broken.
Meanwhile, awards season chugs along with the Directors Guild of America handing out its top prize to Christopher Nolan for “Oppenheimer.” Plus, the Oscars add a new category for casting directors.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Universal Music pulled all of its music from TikTok, Disney invests in “Fortnite” developer Epic Games and Paramount starts pulling content off its streaming service.
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Showbiz Sandbox 643: Linear Television Viewership Sinks to New Lows
January 3, 2024
Two annual ratings roundups of television viewing in the United States show that audiences for traditional broadcast and linear cable are in serious decline. The list of the 100 most watched broadcast episodes is mostly sports. And the top ranked channels reveal cable isn’t even really trying to program their networks anymore.
Meanwhile, the domestic box office managed to surpass $9 billion for the first time since the COVID pandemic, with Universal Pictures taking over for Disney as the top earner.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Gérard Depardieu stirs up more controversy, Taylor Swift sets more sales chart records and Paramount Global is looking for a buyer.
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Showbiz Sandbox 640: Hollywood Has Always Been Addicted To Sequels
November 28, 2023
If moviegoers have grown tired of endless sequels and franchise reboots, as some will have you believe, then Hollywood studios may be in big trouble. In 2024, a new sequel will be released every other week, including another Godzilla movie, Dune 2, a new Ghostbusters, a new Kung Fu Panda, another Mad Max film, Deadpool 3, Inside Out 2, the next Planet of the Apes movie and a new Despicable Me. Yet, Hollywood’s love affair with sequels is as old as the film business itself.
Meanwhile, in the music industry, comedian Bo Burnham hit a landmark on the Billboard charts, the performing rights organization BMI ditches its nonprofit status, and musical duo Daryl Hall and John Oates are suing each other.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Disney’s horrible year continues with its latest animated film, Taylor Swift gives herself a birthday present and spending on productions for streaming services hits an all time high in Europe.
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Showbiz Sandbox 636: Why Streaming Subscriptions Are Getting More Expensive
November 1, 2023
When Netflix announced its earnings for the third quarter of 2023 it also confirmed that it would be increasing prices for those that don’t want to view ads. Amazon recently said it would also be raising the price for the ad-free tier of Prime Video. It turns out these streaming services have discovered they make more revenue per subscriber when they are willing to watch ads. Now all they need to do is scale their advertising subscriber-base.
Meanwhile, there are signs that talks to settle the actors’ strike may be going well. Though the strike’s damages have already been done with studios postponing releases until 2025 and television ad rates plummeting.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why music publishers are taking legal action against artificial intelligence companies, how record labels are trying to prevent artists from re-recording their albums and the untimely death of Matthew Perry.
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Showbiz Sandbox 635: Deciphering Hollywood Hits and Misses
October 17, 2023
Hollywood studios often try to camouflage the success or failure of their movies. Sometimes they claim a film is unprofitable, yet go on to make several sequels, as Nu Image did with the “Has Fallen” franchise. Other times a studio insists a movie is a modest box office hit despite paying hundreds of millions for the underlying property, as with Universal Pictures’ recent “The Exorcist: Believer.” It many not matter to moviegoers, but it does to those with profit participation.
There is no denying that Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” concert film is a huge success after its weekend in cinemas around the world. Though it didn’t live up to early box office forecasts, its opening was three times bigger than any concert movie in history. It became the highest grossing such film of all time in North America after just three days.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the latest on the actors’ strike, some questions over Spotify’s audiobook offering and Microsoft finally completes its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
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