Explaining the Business of Entertainment
I got to work on a fun (and paid) consulting project last week and like all good consultations, it hoovered up a lot of time, eventually going into the weekend and into the nights. But it warmed my heart to know that I’d have a classic story to return to:
Was there a big awards show last week? There was! I should write a lot about that, right? Nope. My most important story of the week isn’t the Emmy, though it’s a story that is a few weeks old, so the “this week” part seems not quite right. But it’s
A few years back, I was at a party—more like a family get together—and the subject turned to TV. Everyone at the party started raving about the latest The Big Bang Theory. Then raving about other CBS shows. As an effete, Millennial, west coast liberal, with New York values, I
Hypothetical question: in any given week, do more people in America watch CBS or Netflix? Think about it for a moment, but you know why I’m asking: the firing of Les Moonves is the most important story in entertainment. Absolutely for last week, definitely for the month and in competition
My dad didn’t like the ending of Empire Strikes Back. His felt that it didn’t finish the story, it left off with a, “See you next movie!” conclusion. That irritated him. He hasn’t seen Avengers: Infinity War yet, so you know he won’t like that. My article yesterday probably did
You want to know a secret? The underlying secret to all media and entertainment? The peak behind the curtain that explains all you see in film, TV, music and more? Here it is. “Logarithmically distributed returns.” Once you learn it you can’t forget it. Like how to do a magic
I try to write these updates to post by late afternoon on a Friday. Often–most weeks actually–I miss that optimistic target and finish them over the weekend/first thing Monday morning, then back date them to the week they cover. Obviously the biggest story of entertainment was Les Moonves being fired,
(This is Part VII of a multi-part series answering the question: “How Much Money Did Disney Make on the Lucasfilm deal?” Previous sections are here: Part I: Introduction & “The Time Value of Money Explained” Appendix: Feature Film Finances Explained! Part II: Star Wars Movie Revenue So Far Part III:
When I wrote “Theme 2: It’s Not Value Capture, It’s Value Creation” last week, I made things seem really simple. Probably too simple.That said, I hold to my core point: most businesses could benefit by pulling out that chart and answering three simple questions, “What price do we charge customers?”
With this update, we’re officially out of the slowest, dumbest month of news, August. Here’s my round-up of the “Most Important Story of the Week”, a few days late because of that blasted long weekend. (I’ll save my rants on how much better America would be with more 3 and