Explaining the Business of Entertainment
For the second week, we have another “first”! This time, the first Hulu Original to earn a spot on the Nielsen top ten “originals” list. At some point, we’ll run out of firsts, but for now setting new records is fun! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report compiles data from Nielsen’s
I may be cheating a pinch this week. I’m not sure this is the most important story, but it’s the one I think needs the most explaining. In a lot of ways, Amazon paying nearly half a billion dollars (to start) to make the most expensive TV series in history
One of the traditions of Oscar coverage—in addition to crazy awards campaigns and a season which lasts 9 months—is the habitual article pointing out how little box office the top films earn. Have I been guilty of writing this feature? Absolutely. Do Popular Oscar Films Make for Larger Oscar Telecast
Yesterday, Netflix had their quarterly earnings report and dropped ten new datecdotes—my term for Netflix’s measurement of the subscribers who watched 2 minutes in the first 28 days—on us. Add to that the Snyder Cut coming out on HBO Max, a new streamer on the “acquired film list”, a new
As the self-appointed judge of what is “most important” in entertainment each week, I often remind myself that “story” doesn’t mean “event”. That’s why I’m so excited about this week’s story. If a trend is happening slowly, sometimes it flies under the radar, and we miss it entirely, which doesn’t
Last week was my most viewed streaming ratings report to date. I guess that’s what happens when you write about WandaVision! (And as a result get featured in WordPress’ reader application.) The theme of the week is “slow”. We didn’t have a lot of buzzy new titles, and as a
The theme of the week is “context”. For the second week, Netflix is spending hundreds of millions of dollars for film rights. To put that in context requires “ent-splaining” everything from “content arms dealers” to “portfolio theory” to “Pay 1 theatrical films”. (And if you don’t know what those terms
Let’s start with what question I’m NOT answering today: Should Disney keep releasing films to “premier access”? Ultimately, yeah, I want to answer that question. It’s really important. (For those who don’t know, Premier Access is the movies released at the same time as theaters that cost $30. I’ll call
If you’ve been reading my “Steaming Ratings Report” for the last few weeks, you might have noticed it has been fairly Netflix-centric. Netflix is the 600 pound gorilla in the streaming wars. Heck, it’s more like a Mighty Joe Young or Rampage-sized super gorilla, marauding over the globe, buying sequel
Much like Benoit Blanc, the title character of a film series I’m about to write about, every week I find myself hunting for clues. Tidbits. Hints. Insights to answer one yearning question: What was the most important story this week? This week required a bit more searching than usual. (I