Showbiz Sandbox

Unlike most major streaming services, which allow new subscribers to choose between a more expensive ad-free plan and a cheaper ad-supported tier, Amazon has taken an opt-out approach with Prime. When Prime Video begins streaming ads in late-January one of the biggest streaming services in the world with at least 150 million subscribers, will immediately […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 645: Amazon Prime Video Set To Dominate Advertising Market appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association held its first Golden Globes awards ceremony under a new and supposedly improved organization under new ownership. Organizers scrambled to find both a network to broadcast this year’s show, not to mention a host. In the end, the winners weren’t surprising with “Oppenheimer” and “Succession” each taking home five, but […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 644: The Golden Globes Lose Their Luster appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

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 […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 643: Linear Television Viewership Sinks to New Lows appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

Last week Netflix released a huge data dump detailing the viewership of all its programming for the first six months of 2023. The streaming giant is calling it a victory for transparency. While it’s a long way from the granular detail the industry has long sought, it does reveal that almost nobody watches 25% of […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 642: What Netflix Subscribers Really Watch appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

In its third year the Red Sea International Film Festival continues to build on its reputation for programming some of the most engaging and important movies being made in the Middle East. Held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, RSIFF has gone a step further by financially backing productions from the region, which until five years ago […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 641: Red Sea Film Festival Highlights Emerging Film Market appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

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 […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 640: Hollywood Has Always Been Addicted To Sequels appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

Hollywood’s dual writers and actors strikes may finally be over, with significant gains in earnings, residuals and AI protections, but the many systemic issues that caused the labor disruption aren’t entirely history. As more of the details of the SAG-AFTRA contract become public we take a look at what they mean for actors and the […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 639: Hollywood Deals With Post-Strike Fallout appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

After 118 days the actor’s strike finally came to an end as SAG-AFTRA reached an agreement on a new three-year employment contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel joins us to explain all of the major achievements in wages increases, residuals and artificial intelligence protections the union […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 638: What the Actors Won in Their New Contract appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

Spotify is changing how it pays out royalties in an effort to deter fraud, demonetize the flood of new music that almost no one listens to and frustrate those gaming the system. None of the changes will alter the amount of money paid out in royalties each year. But Spotify believes the move may add […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 637: Spotify Fighting Fraud With New Payment Plan appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

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 […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 636: Why Streaming Subscriptions Are Getting More Expensive appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

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 post Showbiz Sandbox 635: Deciphering Hollywood Hits and Misses appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

Spotify, the music streaming service, is going all in on audiobooks in hopes of attracting and maintaining subscribers. Previously, Spotify offered some audiobooks for sale. Now the company’s 220 million premium subscribers get 15 hours of free audiobook listening each month. The service is launching with 150,000 titles and will pay publishers based on consumption. […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 634: Spotify Gets Book Smart appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

The Writers Guild of America released details of the new contract they negotiated with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers ending their historic 148 day strike. The 94-page document is filled with big gains for writers in pay and protection from artificial intelligence. It’s also a compromise to the deal the WGA initially […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 633: Dissecting the New Writers Guild Contract appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

The Writer’s Guild of America reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) potentially ending its strike after 146 days. Entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel wrote the book on Hollywood strikes, literally, and is a contributing writer at Puck where he covers labor issues. He fills […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 632: Pickets Down – Hollywood Writers Strike A Tentative Deal appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

Every annual awards season has its own strange rhythm and unexpected twists. But with both actors and writers on strike, unable to promote certain movies, surely this year’s awards season will be the strangest of all. At the heart of the madness is Anne Thompson, the Editor-at-Large of Indiewire. The awards season expert is back […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 631: Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals Kick Off Unusual Awards Season appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

The 1923 silent film “The Spanish Dancer” starring Pola Negri is the latest restoration project being theatrically released by Milestone Film & Video, one of the key players over the past 30 years in resurrecting forgotten and neglected films. We are joined by Dennis Doros, the co-founder of Milestone, who tells us how he turned […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 630: Resurrecting Silent Films Can Be Profitable (Theoretically) appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

Carriage disputes between cable companies and media companies are nothing new. They happen regularly around big events like the Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup or the Oscars. However this time Charter Communications, the second largest cable operator in the United States, has pulled all of Disney’s 19 networks from its service, refusing to pay the […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 629: Disney vs. Charter Feud Could Finally Unbundle Cable appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

The recent success of the television series “Suits” on Netflix has shined a spotlight on how much money writers make on a cable or broadcast hit versus one on a streaming service. Last week one of the show’s writers revealed the vast difference in residual payments he received between linear and streaming underscoring why the […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 628: An Inside Look at Streaming’s Microscopic Residual Payments appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

The number of households in the United States subscribing to traditional pay television services has dropped below 50% for the first time in the two years Nielsen has been tracking such metrics. And it’s not that viewers are cutting the cable cord, they’re just watching their favorite television shows and movies on streaming services more […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 627: Linear TV Drops Below 50% In U.S. For First Time appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.

Though Disney had previously dismissed the idea of venturing into sports betting, saying it didn’t fit the company’s image, the media giant signed a billion dollar agreement this week with a little known online gambling company. The move comes as Disney’s linear television revenue is declining with no end in sight and losses for its […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 626: Will Disney’s Big Wager On Sports Betting Pay Off? appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox.