Showbiz Sandbox

J. Sperling Reich & Michael Giltz•www.showbizsandbox.com

Industry pros J. Sperling Reich and Michael Giltz provide insightful analysis, humorous viewpoints and insider opinions on the latest entertainment news headlines. The weekly podcast features panel discussions with renowned industry guests, as well as phone calls and emails from listeners who voice their own opinions on the child’s play of the entertainment business.

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Episodes

Showbiz Sandbox 599: The Grammy Awards Have A Timing Problem

The nominees for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards were announced this week and as expected Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Adele and Harry Styles will all be competing for top awards. Yet some of the year’s biggest albums weren’t even eligible to be nominated because they were released after September. This is a continuous problem for the […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 599: The Grammy Awards Have A Timing Problem appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Nov 19, 2022•57 min

Showbiz Sandbox 598: Streaming Growth Goes International

It’s no secret that streaming services have been affecting every part of the entertainment business in one way or another, from movies and television to music sales and book publishing. After the latest round of earnings announcements from major media conglomerates a few realities become clear; producing original content for direct-to-consumer streaming offerings is costing […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 598: Streaming Growth Goes International appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Nov 10, 2022•1 hr 32 min

Showbiz Sandbox 597: Audiobooks Are Changing Our Reading Habits

Audiobooks have slowly gained enough market share in the publishing industry that the medium now rivals print and ebooks in terms of sales and consumption. How audiobooks are changing the way we read is a question Karl Berglund of Uppsala University in Sweden set out to answer through a study analyzing a large amount of […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 597: Audiobooks Are Changing Our Reading Habits appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Oct 11, 2022•1 hr 34 min

Showbiz Sandbox 596: The Compact Disc Turns 40 Years Old

It’s hard to believe that the compact disc format was first launched forty years ago this week. Billboard has a great oral history about the launch of the CD format and how it initially faced stiff resistance from record labels before kicking off a boom in music sales that lasted until digital MP3s took over […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 596: The Compact Disc Turns 40 Years Old appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 6 min

Showbiz Sandbox 595: Vinyl Sales and Payola on the Rise in Music Industry

With mid-year music revenue figures finally tallied it appears the growth of streaming music has begun to slow as vinyl sales has increase. Also on the rise are reports of payola as indie music artists can’t seem to get played on the radio without paying promoters for the privilege of being put in rotation. These […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 595: Vinyl Sales and Payola on the Rise in Music Industry appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Sep 28, 2022•1 hr 29 min

Showbiz Sandbox 594: Fall Film Festivals Set The Stage For Awards Season

The annual film festivals in Venice, Telluride and Toronto overlap not only in their timing but often in their official selections and this year was no exception. As usual, titles that begin their festival tour as anticipated awards season contenders sometimes wind up as afterthoughts while unexpected discoveries gain wide recognition. The movie that took […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 594: Fall Film Festivals Set The Stage For Awards Season appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Sep 20, 2022•1 hr 17 min

Showbiz Sandbox 593: This Year’s Emmy Awards Turns Into A Rerun

The 74th Annual Prime Time Emmy Awards were held this week and they managed to honor most of the winners from last year’s ceremony. The same shows, and at times the same actors, continue to top most of the big categories. This begs the perennial question, what is the actual purpose of the Emmy Awards? […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 593: This Year’s Emmy Awards Turns Into A Rerun appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Sep 16, 2022•1 hr 2 min

Showbiz Sandbox 592: Why Is HBO Max Dumping Content?

At a time when streaming services are hoarding content in an attempt to attract subscribers and capture market share, Warner Bros. Discovery has taken the opposite approach with HBO Max; they are removing shows from their platform. Now comes reports that pulling shows from its library can save the company around $100 million annually. We […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 592: Why Is HBO Max Dumping Content? appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Sep 08, 2022•1 hr 2 min

Showbiz Sandbox 591: Live Sports Becomes the Costliest Battle of the Streaming Wars

There is no better evidence that the streaming wars are still in full swing than the news that streaming services are accounting for more viewing than cable television for the first time in history. As streaming media companies fight for market share, they have turned to live sports as a means of driving subscriber growth. […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 591: Live Sports Becomes the Costliest Battle of the Streaming Wars appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Aug 30, 2022•1 hr 43 min

Showbiz Sandbox 590: New Warner Bros. Discovery Strategy Is A Little Batty

The newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery held its first earnings call last week making so many headlines it was all anyone in the entertainment industry could talk about. The company has a ton of debt, but a plan to get into better financial shape; stop producing expensive scripted shows, shelve pricey projects and layoff thousands […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 590: New Warner Bros. Discovery Strategy Is A Little Batty appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Aug 10, 2022•1 hr 46 min

Showbiz Sandbox 589: Should Music Be Produced and Sold Like Fine Art?

In an effort to make music valuable again, producer T Bone Burnett is getting behind a technology that allowed him and Bob Dylan to create a one-off re-recording of “Blowin’ In The Wind” and then auction it off for $1.8 million. But can recordings be treated the same way as paintings are in the art […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 589: Should Music Be Produced and Sold Like Fine Art? appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Jul 20, 2022•1 hr 14 min

Showbiz Sandbox 588: Keeping Track of Ever-Shifting Streaming Strategies

Though the entertainment industry may be infatuated infatuated with streaming, the legacy media companies behind all the new subscription services haven’t quite found the right way to profit from them. NBC/Universal earned nearly a billion dollars in committed ad revenue with Peacock this year, causing them to take a hard look at all of their […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 588: Keeping Track of Ever-Shifting Streaming Strategies appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Jul 05, 2022•57 min

Showbiz Sandbox 587: How To Succeed on Broadway After a Global Pandemic

With this year’s Tony Awards having been doled out, the 29 shows currently running on Broadway are taking stock of what’s working, which ones should stick around and which should stop raising their curtains. At least 14 have announced closing dates or are expected to soon, including some big musical productions. Others are recasting their […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 587: How To Succeed on Broadway After a Global Pandemic appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Jun 28, 2022•1 hr 21 min

Showbiz Sandbox 586: Tony Awards Help Broadway Get Its Groove Back

After all of the obstacles the pandemic forced plays and musicals to deal with, this year’s Tony Awards looked to raise the curtain on a revived Broadway. The ceremony managed to honor some of the best productions and performances from last season while celebrating the efforts the Broadway community made just to stay in business. […] The post Showbiz Sandbox 586: Tony Awards Help Broadway Get Its Groove Back appeared first on Showbiz Sandbox ....

Jun 14, 2022•1 hr 22 min

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