The all-new Hollywood Reporter offers unprecedented access to the people, studios, networks and agencies that create the magic in Hollywood. Published weekly, the oversized format includes exceptional photography and rich features.
People (mostly New Yorkers) say there are only two seasons in Los Angeles: Oscar and Emmy. I’d argue that like the L.A. weather, the Hollywood awards seasons are all blurring together. The Oscar campaign for Get Out began not in the traditional fall window but last spring when Universal staged a “DVD release party” and invited a bunch of guild and film Academy members. And in the “Peak TV” era, the jockeying for the prestige (and viewers) that come with industry awards has turned into a year-round endeavor. For me — and for many of the busy awards voters who are just trying to keep up with all the good stuff — the Oscar and Emmy seasons begin when The Hollywood Reporter’s Roundtables do. In addition to assembling interesting groups…
As awards editor, Rebecca Ford oversees THR’s Emmy coverage, kicking off this week. The Bay Area native spent six years as a film reporter. In her first year covering TV, she notes “there is so much more content — hundreds of shows.” This week’s Emmy Playbook (page 70), by Michael O’Connell, looks at the Trump effect on episodic TV. The man best known as “The Fonz” — Henry Winkler — contributes “How Not to Jump the Shark” (page 26), about auditioning for the HBO series Barry. Winkler says making a TV show hasn’t changed from the era of Happy Days: “I’m still knocking on wood. Every time I show up on set in the morning, I am as excited as I was the very first time.” Illustrator Lucy Engelman created…
In an era when Disney is aiming to acquire most of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion and AT&T is attempting to merge with Time Warner in an $85 billion deal, scale has become the priority for media titans. Yet, presented with the opportunity to lead a combined CBS-Viacom, Leslie Moonves didn’t simply rally the CBS board of directors to support his “no merger” view — he went “nuclear” on National Amusements Inc., the entity run by Sumner and Shari Redstone that holds an 80 percent voting stake in both companies. On May 17, the CBS board voted 11-3 to issue a dividend of shares that would dilute NAI’s control to 17 percent — the three “no” votes coming from Shari Redstone and Robert Klieger and David Andelman, two board…
Digital YouTube Pivot A tech giant moves into Spotify territory. p. 20 Television Fox TV’s Rival Sinclair plans to challenge Murdoch’s empire. p. 22 Showbiz Stocks $57.86 (+33%) WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT (WWE) THR reported the wrestling firm is negotiating a 5-year TV deal with Fox for $205 million annually, three times more than NBCUniversal pays. $35.34 (-3%) CINEMARK HLD. (CNK) Rising salaries and slower growth in the price of tickets cause the movie theater chain to post softer quarterly financials than expected.…
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki confused attendees at the Code Media Conference in February when she said that she considered YouTube Red, the subscription video service behind originals like Cobra Kai and Step Up: High Water, “really a music service.” Her comment took on new meaning when, on May 16, Google-owned YouTube said that it was overhauling its subscription business, doing away with YouTube Red and in its place introducing two new offerings: the $10-per-month YouTube Music Premium for ad-free music streaming and the $12-per-month YouTube Premium, which combines the music subscription with ad-free video viewing and access to original programming. The rebrand puts music at the center of YouTube’s push to sign up subscribers, a move that YouTube global head of music Lyor Cohen says was driven by the “enormous…
It may be just a matter of time before Fox News gets a real challenger from the right. Conservative media giant Sinclair Broadcast Group, which has long quieted speculation about plans to create a rival to Rupert Murdoch’s cable news empire, is making new moves to lay the groundwork for the plan. Sinclair is speaking with both current and former Fox News personalities about joining the would-be network, which a knowledgeable source says could be led by Tribune Media executive Sean Compton. The company also recently made an overture to conservative radio host Michael Savage, THR has learned. Savage did not respond to a request for comment. (One name not in the mix: Ousted Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, whom Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley has said the company isn’t looking…
