Showbiz Sandbox
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Showbiz Sandbox 401: Redbox Beats Disney At Their Own Copyright Game
In the first round of a copyright infringement lawsuit, Disney failed to win an injunction preventing the DVD rental company Redbox from selling digital copies of its films. Instead, a judge ruled that since Redbox is forced to buy retail copies of Dis...
Showbiz Sandbox 400: The Long, Slow Death of Barnes & Noble
As Barnes & Noble loses an ever increasing number of customers to Amazon, the largest bookstore chain in the United States continues struggles to remain a viable business, if not relevant. Now comes word the retailer has cut 1,
Showbiz Sandbox 399: Why Can’t Hulu and Spotify Turn A Profit?
As consumers abandon physical media like compact discs and DVDs they are signing up for streaming services like Hulu and Spotify by the tens of millions. Even so, profitability has proven elusive for such companies. We’ll try and understand why,
Showbiz Sandbox 398: Streaming Services Crowd The Field During Super Bowl
The ratings for this year’s Super Bowl may have declined 7% and we might know why. After all, there were ads for Hulu, Netflix movies like “The Cloverfield Paradox,” Amazon Prime’s Jack Ryan series and even a few movies that might appear in theatres la...
Showbiz Sandbox 397: Thompson On The 2018 Oscar Nominations and Sundance Film Festival
Some of the biggest annual headline generators in the entertainment industry all happened to occur during the same week this year; the Grammy Awards were handed out, the Oscar Nominations were announced and the Sundance Film Festival came to a close.
Showbiz Sandbox 396: Has the #MeToo Movement Pushed Actress Salaries Higher?
As Hollywood continues to grapple with how to handle decades of sexual misconduct one immediate benefit for women throughout the industry may come in the form of higher paychecks. Take actress Ellen Pompeo, for instance.
Showbiz Sandbox 395: The Future of Television Is Now and It’s Online
Though the number of pay-TV subscribers grew by 1.2% last year, in mature media markets consumers continue to cut the cord, migrating to over the top (OTT) services provided by an increasing list of streaming services. In fact,
Showbiz Sandbox 394: A Golden Globes Ceremony With Perfect Timing
Amid a sea of black dresses and black tie Hollywood held its first big annual event of the #metoo age as the Golden Globes became a platform for the industry to speak out on gender inequality. The highlight of the evening came when Oprah Winfrey delive...
Showbiz Sandbox 393: Disney Acquisition of Fox Underscores Hollywood’s Digital Transition
In one of the largest deals Hollywood has ever seen, the Walt Disney Company announced it had agreed to buy most of 21st Century Fox in a transaction valued at $66.1 billion. Disney will scoop up Fox assets that include 20th Century Fox film and TV stu...
Showbiz Sandbox 392: Awards Season Begins To Take Shape
You know you’re in the thick of the awards season when you have to complain about who was snubbed and overlooked when the Golden Globe nominations were announced. “The Shape of Water” and “Big Little Lies” led this year’s nominees,