Amazon is firing up investments and generating sizeable business in media and entertainment, indicating the diversified retailing behemoth is becoming an unlikely top-tier, Hollywood-style content company. In just-released 2021 earnings, Amazon reported its subscription revenue (excluding its AWS cloud tech service) soared to a staggering $31.8 billion, up 26% year over … [Read more...] about Amazon Morphs Into Hollywood Juggernaut
‘People’s’ Rescue of AMC Fizzles
After an unbelievable run-up, the stock price of cinema circuit AMC Entertainment is in free fall, as the flood of small investors calling themselves apes evaporates. From a high surpassing $55 a share last year, AMC closed at $14.52 a share today. With the air out of the balloon, professional investors expect AMC’s stock price to settle under $10/share because of its heavy … [Read more...] about ‘People’s’ Rescue of AMC Fizzles
Marketing Turmoil Engulfs Netflix, S-VOD
Marketing of subscription video-on-demand for Netflix and HBO Max was rocked in the past week. The high-flying stock price of Netflix cracked, and also subscription prices were raised and lowered, in an apparent contradiction. Netflix raised its subscription price Jan. 14, and then days later competitor HBO Max instituted a limited-time price cut. Netflix increased its … [Read more...] about Marketing Turmoil Engulfs Netflix, S-VOD
Awards Season Compressed, Thinned
The covid pandemic is upsetting the awards-season calendar, as televised awards shows postpone, cancel or become bland virtual events — creating ripple effects. A fallout is that awards-marketing spending looks to be subdued by the uncertainty, and prestige films are deprived of routine publicity bursts in the lead-up to the Oscars. Amid the chaos, the door is also … [Read more...] about Awards Season Compressed, Thinned
Film Promotions Pile Into TikTok
Short-videos web site TikTok is becoming a primo Hollywood movie promotion partner with Sony Pictures’ blockbuster “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and Universal Pictures’ “Sing 2” the latest examples. TikTok has evolved from a “must try” to “must have” for film marketers, given its hefty with 1 billion active monthly users, says a Deadline.com article by Dade Hayes. TikTok is the … [Read more...] about Film Promotions Pile Into TikTok
Studios Squeeze Cinemas on Blockbusters
A little-understood aspect of cinema booking contracts is that a larger percentage of boxoffice revenue is allocated to the Hollywood major studios as a blockbuster film climbs into the stratosphere. The result is that the financial benefits of outsized hits disproportionately go into the pockets of major-studio distributors, and less so to theaters. Hey all you “meme” small … [Read more...] about Studios Squeeze Cinemas on Blockbusters
Disney Hoists Interactive Movie Poster
A technology unit of Walt Disney Co. is field trialing what it calls an “interactive” film poster where viewers’ responses are evaluated to help choose what poster is presented. The major consultancy Accenture assists Disney in the interactive movie poster (IMP) project. The initiative started quietly with 2017 release “Dumbo.” Field trial means the initiative engages … [Read more...] about Disney Hoists Interactive Movie Poster
Audience Data Shifts to Predictive
Consumer research juggernaut Nielsen is offering a new research product Audience Predict that forecasts potential audience sizes for entertainment programming in various distribution scenarios. The goal is to help media companies charts paths for their rolling out their content. Audience Predict is from Nielsen’s Gracenote unit, which tracks content online using metadata — … [Read more...] about Audience Data Shifts to Predictive
Booking Classics in Cinemas
Focused on their new release slates, movie companies generally offload the cinema bookings of their older films. United Kingdom-based Park Circus the leader in distributing classics and retrospectives as a sales agency and distribution company. "Sales agent” means has deals to book screenings of back-catalog movies of Hollywood’s major studios plus others. Park Circus gets … [Read more...] about Booking Classics in Cinemas
Female Demo Lags in Cinema Rebound
Cinema-going is bouncing back but one troubling trend is apparent. The female demographic — particularly older women — are not returning to movie theaters at their prepandemic proportion. And it remains to be seen if female underrepresentation is only temporary or permanent, which would be a blow to the cinema industry. Females accounted for 51% of the population, but only … [Read more...] about Female Demo Lags in Cinema Rebound