General
Emmys Add Laverne Cox, Sterling K. Brown, RuPaul, ‘Sesame Street’s’ Count and More to Sunday’s Show
Michael Schneider, Variety
Laverne Cox, Sterling K. Brown, Lin-Manuel Miranda and “Sesame Street’s” Count von Count are among the next round of stars who have signed on to appear and/or present awards during this Sunday’s Emmy Awards.
Lionsgate, Starz Production ‘Ramping Up Very, Very Quickly’ in Wake of Pandemic
Dave McNary, Variety
Lionsgate and Starz are ready to ramp up production in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. “This is going to be a sellers’ market for some time to come because a lot of new content has not been made,” said Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns on Wednesday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference.
Live Nation Converting Venues Into Polling Sites for 2020 Elections
John Blistein, Rolling Stone
Live Nation has launched a new initiative to temporarily turn venues it owns into polling sites for the 2020 elections. The concert industry giant said Wednesday that it is discussing with local officials the feasibility of converting over 100 venues across the country.
Film
After ‘Tenet’ Stumbles and ‘Wonder Woman 2’ Moves, Movie Theaters Brace for Rough Fall
Brent Lang and Rebecca Rubin, Variety
The ShowRoom Cinema in Asbury Park and the Beach Cinema in Bradley Beach got the greenlight to reopen at the end of August when New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy lifted restrictions on movie theaters. Mike Sodano, who owns both venues, says that even though he can turn on the marquee lights again after dimming them for roughly six months, he’s hesitant to start welcoming back customers.
Universal could tap into AMC deal as it moves ‘Croods 2’ to Thanksgiving from Christmas
Sarah Whitten, CNBC
Universal Studios is pushing up the date of its animated family film “The Croods: A New Age” to Thanksgiving. The studio will now debut the film on Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving, instead of Dec. 23.
Premium VOD Is a Failed Experiment, Imax CEO Rich Gelfond Says
Trey Williams, The Wrap Pro
Imax boss Rich Gelfond is convinced premium video on demand releases are a nonstarter. The premium video on demand push generated a lot of interest in the last six months, with audiences stuck at home and studios twiddling their thumbs on new releases because of theater closures due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
What Studios & Exhibition Seriously Need To Do Right Now To Save Moviegoing After Release Date Fallout & ‘Tenet’
Anthony D’Alessandro, Deadline Hollywood
What’s going on right now at the box office and with theaters goes far beyond the muted $30M domestic results of Tenet. This isn’t a death knell piece for exhibition, nor is this more rhetoric to freak studios out and have them delay even more movies.
Why Moving ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Could Deepen Movie Theaters’ Troubles
Jeremy Fuster, The Wrap Pro
Warner Bros.’ decision to move “Wonder Woman 1984” from October to Christmas Day could potentially help “Tenet” boost its domestic box office. But it will be little comfort for thousands of theaters that now face renewed uncertainty as studios mull yet another wave of release slate changes.
Melissa McCarthy, Warner Bros, Gersh, Brett Ratner & Ben Falcone Sued For More Than $10M In ‘Life Of The Party’ Ripoff Suit
Dominic Patten, Deadline Hollywood
The more than $10 million breach of contract lawsuit just filed over the 2018 Melissa McCarthy starrer Life of the Party may prove a party pooper for the Ghostbusters actress, Warner Bros, director Ben Falcone, the Gersh Agency, agent Sean Barclay, and Brett Ratner and his RatPac banner.
Television
Live From New York Once Again Lorne Michaels reveals everything about SNL’s 46th season, including the show’s new Biden.
Jesse David Fox, Vulture
When he got on the phone Tuesday night to discuss the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels was just getting out of a long production meeting. There was a lot to figure out.
USA and Syfy Chief Chris McCumber Is Leaving NBCUniversal After 2 Decades
Jason Lynch, Adweek
Another high-profile NBCUniversal TV exec is leaving the company as a result of last month’s big overhaul. Chris McCumber, president of USA Network and Syfy, is exiting after nearly two decades at the company, he said today.
Linear TV Ad Revenue, Muffled by Covid-19, Projected to Dip 16% in 2020
Kelsey Sutton, Adweek
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on the advertising industry will both go down in history. In the second quarter of the year, national television advertising saw revenues drop 30%, its worst quarter ever, and linear media ad sales were down by a whopping 38% in the quarter, according to a new U.S. advertising data from Magna.
How Top TV Producers Staffed Amid Coronavirus and Ongoing WGA-ATA Issues
Elaine Low, Variety
Michelle and Robert King, the creators and showrunners of “Evil” and “The Good Fight,” typically start each season of every show they run with dinner and drinks with the writers. One of the best things about having a writers’ room, says Robert King, is getting together to “chat about everything and anything.”
Big Ten to begin football season in October
Fadel Allassan, Axios
The Big Ten announced Wednesday that it will begin its football season during the weekend of Oct. 23-24, backed by daily coronavirus testing for all on-field personnel and enhanced cardiac screenings.
TV’s Future Will Be More Animated
Alison Herman, The Ringer
Six months into a once-in-a-century pandemic, the global entertainment industry is attempting to claw itself back to a new normal, with predictably mixed results.
Technology and New Media
Exclusive data shows traffic to Netflix’s US cancellation webpage spiked after the controversial film ‘Cuties’ was released on the streaming service
Ashley Rodriguez, Business Insider
The award-winning French film “Cuties” has sparked backlash from Netflix subscribers, and third-party data suggests some people in the US may actually be following through on their threats to cancel the service. SimilarWeb, a company that tracks app and website usage, spotted an uptick in traffic to Netflix’s US cancellation-confirmation page — the page the displays when a user successfully cancels a subscription— after “Cuties” was released on Netflix on September 9.
Twitter says Kanye West violated its rules with tweet of journalist’s phone number
David Ingram, NBC News
Twitter said Wednesday that rapper and long-shot presidential candidate Kanye West violated the platform’s rules by tweeting the phone number of a magazine editor.
Trump Administration Pushes for U.S. Control of TikTok
John D. McKinnon and Michael C. Bender, The Wall Street Journal
Trump administration officials are looking to give American investors a majority share of the company that will take over the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok, according to people familiar with the matter. That is leading to uncertainty and friction over the contours of the emerging deal to transfer the popular app to a U.S.-based entity, as President Trump has demanded.
TikTok-Oracle Deal Could ‘Open Up the Floodgate’ For Ad Dollars
Sean Burch, The Wrap Pro
If the U.S. Government gives the green light to Oracle’s bid to run TikTok’s U.S. operations — a decision that’s expected to come by the end of the week — American brands will likely start pouring more ad dollars into the wildly-popular video app, according to industry experts.
Spotify CEO Defends Keeping Transphobic Joe Rogan Podcasts Online
Joseph Cox and Emanuel Maiberg, Vice
In a Spotify all-hands company meeting on Wednesday, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek defended keeping transphobic content from hugely popular podcaster Joe Rogan on the audio platform, who earlier this year signed an exclusive licensing deal with the company likely worth tens of millions of dollars.
Why Are 2 Million People Still Getting Netflix DVDs by Mail?
Amit Katwala, Wired
Eric signed up for Netflix in around 2005—drawn in by the convenience. Instead of going to the local branch of Blockbuster to rent a movie, if you waited a couple of days it would arrive in the post, without your having to leave the house.
Tubi Hits New Record With 33M Active Users, Launches “Tubi en Español”
Stephanie Sengwe, The Streamable
As with other streaming services, Tubi continues to see growth with more people staying at home. The free streaming service announced today that their monthly active users broke the record in August, reaching 33 million, a 65 percent increase year-over-year.
Bloomberg Media Aims to Disrupt Cable TV, and Itself, With Streaming Relaunch
Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter
To hear Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith tell it, the linear TV business is facing a ticking time bomb. While he acknowledges that cable news channels (including Bloomberg TV) still have “valuable audiences,” young executives at many global companies don’t necessarily get their news from TV — or even pay for cable.
Entertainment companies still have no idea what to name their streaming services
Adam Epstein, Quartz
When in doubt, just add a plus sign. CBS All Access, ViacomCBS’s six-year-old streaming service, will be rebranded as Paramount+ in early 2021, the US media conglomerate announced yesterday.
Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research
It’s HBO vs. Netflix for Emmy dominance. But numbers don’t tell the whole story
Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times
If truth lies in numbers, this is the year Netflix ends HBO’s decade-and-a-half domination of the Emmys. For the last three years, the streaming service has been breathing down HBO’s neck, launching Oscar-level campaigns for several shows to prove that the premium cable network does not own the secret formula for Emmy gold, that quality can coexist with quantity.
Andre Braugher Reexamines His Cop Roles and Urges ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ to Rise to the Moment
Michael Schneider, Variety
Andre Braugher cops to being “pretty freaked out” the first season he played the sophisticated but stern Capt. Raymond Holt on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” Braugher was a Juilliard-trained actor who had already won two Emmys (including one for landmark drama “Homicide: Life on the Street”) and an Obie Award for performing Shakespeare in the Park — but doing a comedy nonetheless scared him.
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