Explaining the Business of Entertainment
Weekly looks at the biggest news in entertainment.
If you’re reading this article, you read the trades. You subscribe to multiple other newsletters. So when Scarlett Johanson sued Disney last week, every Rich, Matt and Lucas (the entertainment journalist equivalents to Tom, Dick and Harry) provided the simple explanation: The big studios are prioritizing stock price over film
I’m a sports fan. Usually, come July, this is a bummer. Because nothing’s on. It’s a barren wasteland with only some baseball to occupy my time. This year, though, what a wonderland of competition. The delayed NBA Finals filled the sports itch in early July and now I’m binging the
If you pushed me, the most “fun” story this week would be the fact that streaming in 2021 finally had a better week than the same time in 2020. But I covered that in my streaming ratings report. Fortunately, when Netflix leaks that they may radically expand their business, that’s
Last week gave me “gut thinking” whiplash. What started as a brilliant strategic move one day turned into a muddled mess by the next. Let’s explain why Comcast’s decision to split its feature film rights between Peacock and Prime Video is such a confusing move. (Sign up for my newsletter
One of the casualties of 2021 was my newsletter edition that featured links to my favorite stories, podcasts and newsletters every so often. Adding the “Streaming Ratings Report” every week was enough extra work that something had to go. Add that lots of other newsletters curate entertainment business news better,
Spielberg. The Supreme Court and NCAA. Conan ending his TV show. This week in entertainment didn’t want for big names. But were any of them truly the “most important” story of the week? No. For that, let’s pull back and look at a slightly longer view. (Sign up for my
Someone sent me the headline about the flurry of House antitrust bills last Friday and said, “Story of the week?” That’s close. It was a big, important move, but it finished just shy from being “actual” news since it hasn’t passed the Senate yet. (And most bills go to die
Sometimes, a statistic is just crazy enough to make it the story of the week. This month that’s this: At various times in June of 2021, AMC Theaters was more highly valued than half of the S&P 500. That’s crazy enough to be… Most Important Story of the Week –
May was truly “media merger madness month”. On May 17th, Discovery announced they were merging with Warner Media. (I was on vacation.) On May 26th, Amazon announced they were buying MGM. (Then it was Memorial Day weekend.) Then last week I had a consulting gig I couldn’t say no to.
What a time to be alive and writing a column on the business of entertainment. I get back from vacation, and not only do I get a mega Hollywood divorce, but I get a mega Hollywood marriage. In the same story! This deal—AT&T selling Warner Media to Discovery—has me bursting