There are a handful of recent entertainment and media items in the news that I've been toying with writing up posts for, but don't have enough to say about them to actually fill up more than a paragraph or two. On the other hand, these are major stories that are going to have long-lasting implications, and I feel strongly that I really should put down something about them on this blog at this point in time. So, cue the brief takes on three topics below, hopefully to be expanded on later.
Paramount Consent Decrees - Last week, a New York federal judge granted a motion by the U.S. Department of Justice to end the Paramount Consent Decrees, a set of court-established rules that were put in place after the 1948 United States v. Paramount Pictures antitrust case to end the vertical integration of film exhibition. What this means in practical terms is that after seven decades, the major film studios are allowed to directly own movie theaters again and negotiate licensing films via "block booking" instead of individually. The potential impact on film exhibition and theater owners is huge, since it's a struggling industry that's seen a lot of clashes over the past few years between what the studios want - shorter exclusivity windows, bigger cuts of ticket sales - and what the theaters want.
There has been a lot of speculation about a major studio will buy a major theater chain, that smaller theaters will be driven out of business, and that we'll see further consolidation of the industry due to the deregulatory action. With Corona already hitting the industry hard, the decision will make it easier for a big player like Amazon to swoop in and acquire a lot of screens for cheap. There's also the worry that the studios will go back to limiting the distribution of their films to the specific theaters that they own - and considering some of the draconian business Disney has gotten up to lately, it's pretty likely. On the other hand, it's no longer 1948 and the exhibition business has changed significantly. The new ruling pointed out that movie theaters were now competing with all manner of other media platforms, including streaming services and television, and removing some of the restrictions might be beneficial to help them stay open. It's much too early to say for sure, but this is something that all movie lovers should be keeping an eye on.
Cancelling Ellen - Now, let's shift gears over to daytime television. I've never been a regular viewer of the "Ellen" program, but I do remember the early days when Ellen DeGeneres managed to fill the void left by the departure of Oprah Winfrey with a little positivity, a little dancing, and a lot of celebrity fluff. "Ellen" has now been on the air for seventeen years, and appears to be the latest battleground of the #Metoo movement. Prompted by a bitter dispute over coronavirus shutdown pay, staffers have alleged that the show is a toxic workplace, completely counter to the "be kind" philosophy espoused by the host. There have been claims of sexual misconduct, racism, bias, and hostility. Though none of the more serious claims are tied to DeGeneres personally, many stories about her being cold, rude, and irresponsible are now in circulation. Various celebrities have taken sides, both for and against.
There are a lot of lenses you can look at this story through. Ellen DeGeneres is viewed as something of a role model for being one of the most prominent and successful lesbian performers in the entertainment industry. How much responsibility should she have for the actions of her producers and other bad actors? Should people be holding her to a higher standard? Is she allowed to be "cold" in person despite her effervescent stage persona? Is this cancel culture run amok? Is this a case of a hypocrite being rightfully called out? Or have the times just changed, and another former trailblazer has gotten complacent and failed to change with them? At the time of writing, "Ellen" ratings have taken a dive, but there's no indication that the show will go off the air anytime soon.
Streamers Status Quo - There has been an explosion of new streaming services making their debuts in the last few months, the most prominent being HBO Max, Quibi, and Peacock. With Apple TV+ and Disney+ not having been launched all that long ago, and many, many other smaller services all offering free trials - what the heck is Topic? - we are now fully in the streaming age. A flood of new content has come with it, even with coronavirus having caused many delays and setbacks. These new platforms have all taken a slightly different approach from each other, to varying degrees of success.
How are the newbies doing? So far, there's one clear loser: Quibi. The service features short form content to be consumed by people on the go, like commuters or people stuck in lines. So, it's essentially Youtube with flashier content. People have not been biting. Apple TV+ is sticking to its strategy of quality over quantity, with a small handful of hits and a subscriber base mostly comprised of people who get Apple TV+ subscriptions free with new Apple devices. Peacock is following the Hulu model of replicating free TV with commercials, with a smaller commercial-free pay service tier. It's doing okay, despite the cancellation of the Olympics which were supposed to be the big draw over the summer. HBO Max, which I continue to keep confusing with HBO Now, is harder to parse, because it's trying to roll one subscriber base into another, and is still hammering out distribution deals with Roku and Amazon, but AT&T is doggedly moving forward with expansion plans. Disney+ is the big winner, with over 50 million subscribers, and is on the hustle for more new content to keep them all happy.
---
No comments:
Post a Comment