One of the joys of working in entertainment if you’re actually a fan of it is if you’re lucky you get to work with some of the most enduring intellectual properties that can be found in any industry. Few studios are as rich in IP as Sony, with rights to decades of Columbia Pictures movies … Read more
Former Disney chairman Bob Iger was the featured interview at the Code Conference yesterday in sweltering Los Angeles, and he made headlines with even hotter takes about the future of the entertainment industry. If you haven’t yet digested his takes, prodded by the brilliant tech/media savant Kara Swisher, I strongly encourage you to do so. … Read more
As what is left of a fall TV season begins to unfold, local stations are getting ready to debut new shows to replace the numerous veterans that are departing. No more prominent on this list are the time periods being given up with Ellen DeGeneres’ departure, which becomes official at the end of this week … Read more
For my money (such as it is these days), there are few more valuable resources of information on media than the Variety! VIP+ platform, which frequently features deep dives often authored by the likes of Gavin Bridge, analyst extraordinaire. Last week, a report called DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDE: HOW AGE DIFFERENCES CONTINUE TO DRIVE CONSUMER TRENDS IN … Read more
On my fourth stiff drink of the night at the most joyous and needed Labor Day pool party I’ve ever attended the host (who holds his liquor better than me) asked me this ponderable: “Because of the world we’re in, have you ever met a hero of yours and gotten to them personally, and then … Read more
So today is for all intents and purposes a day of historic proportions for millions of fans of THE PRICE IS RIGHT, whose current incarnation debuted on the CBS TV broadcast network in the middle of the morning and where it still continues to air weekdays. When it premiered, there were just three commercial broadcast … Read more
Imagine, for a second, you’re Chris Licht. You’ve just taken over a network named CNN, which has been consistently trailing its chief competition in linear ratings, aborted a digital platform in less than a month and was plagued by scandals that cost it its 9 PM anchor and your predescessor just before you were put … Read more
Imagine if Amazon founder Jeff Bezos liked Broadway musicals. He probably would have bought the state of Oklahoma, if for no other reason that to restage it, Imagine if he liked procedural dramas. Murder, She Wrote would probably be making a comeback. (Hey, Angela Lansbury could do both). But he happens to like science fiction … Read more
About five years ago or so I noticed a marked increase in traffic in a gentrifying part of Venice Beach which had been a preferred meditation spot of mine for years. While I was griping that my little hideaway where I could always find free parking and a patch of sand and sun that would … Read more
You don’t see a lot of positive news about anything related to MTV these days. The network has officially entered middle age, having turned 40 last year, and today’s younger audiences are far more likely to eschew linear television completely. Their parents drove the network, and cable television adoption in general, by imploring “I Want … Read more