Top Stories

  • NBCUniversal’s forthcoming Peacock streaming service is set to receive $2 billion from parent company Comcast Corp. through 2021, with spending for the service peaking at about 1 percent of Comcast’s annual revenue, according to Chief Financial Officer Mike Cavanagh. Peacock, which will be free for Comcast cable subscribers, will have “different pricing schemes” according to Cavanagh, but is not expected to be profitable in its first five years of operation. (Variety)
  • ViacomCBS Inc. is reviewing its entire portfolio of real estate holdings, including the possible sale of the Black Rock skyscraper in midtown Manhattan, according to Chief Executive Officer Bob Bakish. No expected price for the holdings was shared, but CBRE Group Inc. has been hired to conduct the review. (Bloomberg)
  • Warner Bros. said it will “vigorously defend against” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s allegations that the studio’s upcoming film “Richard Jewell” falsely portrays now-deceased journalist Kathy Scruggs trading sex for information. Warner Bros., which noted that the film is based on “a wide range of highly credible source material,” said that a disclaimer at the end of the film states that “dialogue and certain events and characters” were created for the “purposes of dramatization.” (Deadline Hollywood

Chart Review

Events Calendar (All Times Local)

12/10/2019
Parks Associates Future of Video: OTT, Pay TV and Digital Media Conference
UBS Global TMT Conference
12/11/2019
Parks Associates Future of Video: OTT, Pay TV and Digital Media Conference
UBS Global TMT Conference
View full calendar

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General

Hollywood Responds to Golden Globes Female Director Snub: ‘Advertisers Should Weigh In’
Matt Donnelly, Variety 

Snubs and surprises are par for the course when it comes to award show nominations, but outrage over the shut-out of women in the best director category for the 2020 Golden Globes is proving considerable.

Verve The First To Respond To The #PayUpHollywood Movement: Will Boost Pay Of Assistants And Mailroom Employees 25%-40%
David Robb, Deadline Hollywood 

Verve is giving its assistants and mailroom employees a 25%-40% pay raise in response to #PayUpHollywood – the first known pay hikes tied directly to the movement since it was launched in October. Verve’s move comes after it conducted an internal survey last month, which also prompted the talent agency to shorten working hours, effective January 1.

Is the Disneyland Resort getting a city subsidy? Workers’ lawsuit pushes court to decide
Hugo Martín, Los Angeles Times 

A group of Disneyland workers has filed a class-action lawsuit claiming the Anaheim resort is violating a 2018 ballot measure by failing to pay its workers a living wage, an accusation that could force the court to settle a yearlong dispute between organized labor and Walt Disney Co.

Anita Hill: “Thousands” Have Responded To Hollywood Commission’s Survey On Sexual Harassment In Industry, Urges Even More Participation
David Robb, Deadline Hollywood

Thousands of showbiz workers have responded to the Anita Hill-led Hollywood Commission’s survey on sexual harassment, assault and bias in the entertainment industry, but Hill says she’d like to see thousands more take part in it.

Inside Vice Media’s audio strategy, which is focused on long-form reporting and exclusive Spotify podcasts
Alyssa Meyers, Business Insider Prime 

Microbulletins, news roundups, and other daily news shows have become formats of choice for media outlets looking to break into podcasting. But Vice Media, which was founded as an alternative punk magazine and has become a sprawling new-media giant, is taking a different approach to audio expansion.

Rich Battista Quit as Imagine Entertainment CEO After Clashes With Staff: ‘A Real Hothead’
Sharon Waxman and Trey Williams, The Wrap 

Rich Battista quit Imagine Entertainment after a short but stormy tenure as CEO in which he clashed with co-founder Brian Grazer and won a reputation for being “combustible” and a “hothead,” a knowledgeable insider told TheWrap. 

Cuba Gooding Jr. Faces 7 More Accusations of Unwanted Touching
Julia Jacobs, The New York Times 

Seven more women have come forward with accounts of unwanted sexual touching by the actor Cuba Gooding Jr. going back to 2003, prosecutors said in court documents, bringing the number of his accusers to 22.

Film

HFPA President Responds to Golden Globes’ Female Director Shut-Out: ‘We Vote by Film’
Jordan Moreau, Variety 

Despite gains in the number of films and TV shows helmed by women, female directors were completely shut out of the Golden Globes once again this year.

The Irishman, Avengers: Endgame, and the De-aging Technology That Could Change Acting Forever
Anthony Breznican, Vanity Fair 

Hollywood has become unstuck in time. Actors have always attempted to make themselves look younger or older than they actually are, but only recently has technology believably taken the place of makeup and hair dye.

Television

#GlobesSoWhite? In TV categories, HFPA snubs ‘When They See Us,’ ‘Watchmen,’ more
Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times 

When it came to honoring the best in television this year, the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. could have nominated “When They See Us,” a limited series about the so-called Central Park Five — a group of five black and Latino teenagers who were wrongly convicted of rape and spent years in prison before their eventual exoneration.

ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish Addresses Post-Merger Plans, Pay-TV Renewals, NFL Rights And More
Dade Hayes, Deadline Hollywood

In a keynote session Monday at the UBS Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish emphasized the synergy starting to kick in after last week’s close of the company’s long-awaited merger.

Simon Cowell’s Business Is Booming Despite America’s Got Talent Investigation
Laura Bradley, Vanity Fair 

As NBC continues its investigation into what transpired on America’s Got Talent before Gabrielle Union’s exit late last month, all eyes have reportedly landed on Simon Cowell—but the scrutiny does not appear to be doing any damage to Cowell’s business. This week marks the premiere of Cowell’s new series, The X Factor: The Band, and according to Deadline, Cowell is also nearing a record five-year deal with ITV for Britain’s Got Talent.

TV Industry Suffers Steepest Drop in Ad Sales Since Recession
Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg 

Global TV advertising sales fell almost 4% in 2019, the steepest drop since the depths of the economic recession in 2009, in the latest sign that advertisers are following viewers to the internet. Declines in TV viewership have suppressed the medium’s advertising dollars, according to research firm Magna Global, which released the data as part of report on the global ad business.

‘Succession’ Creator Inks HBO Overall Deal
Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter 

HBO is ensuring one of its hottest showrunners is staying in-house. The premium cable network has signed Succession creator Jesse Armstrong to an exclusive three-year overall TV deal. 

Cable to Customers: Blame Hikes on Retrans, Sports Fee
Michael Farrell, Broadcasting & Cable 

Comcast, Cox Communications and Charter Communications are blaming retransmission consent and sports rights for hikes to monthly cable rates. Comcast increased the average Broadcast TV fee nearly 50% to $14.95 per month from $10 starting Dec. 18, all tied to increases in the fees the distributor pays for retrans to broadcasters and for sports programming on channels like ESPN. 

CBS Joins Open AP Audience-Targeting Alliance
Brian Steinberg, Variety

“Young Sheldon” leads CBS’ Thursday-night schedule. Soon it may help to lead advertisers to a new way of placing their commercials.

Fox News names Bill Hemmer to succeed Shepard Smith on ‘Fox News Reporting’
Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times 

Fox News has named Bill Hemmer to succeed Shepard Smith as the anchor of its afternoon program “Fox News Reporting.” Hemmer has been with Fox News since 2005, joining from CNN, where he made his reputation covering the Gulf War.

Technology and New Media

Golden Globe nominations prove Netflix dominated TV and film in less than a decade
Julia Alexander, The Verge 

Netflix is having a good year at the Golden Globes. Along with four Best Picture nominations, the streaming service also snagged 30 nominations in TV and film.

New Streaming Services’ Lack of Sports, News May Limit Appeal, Says Charter CEO
Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter 

Cable operator Charter Communications, in which John Malone’s Liberty Broadband owns a big stake, feels that entertainment giants’ new and upcoming streaming services could have some impact on pay TV subscriber losses, but not as much as other factors, chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge said Monday, suggesting that the lack of sports and news offerings would limit the appeal of streaming offers.

Streaming services can’t stop showing the same ad repeatedly, putting growth at risk
Tim Peterson, Digiday 

Audiences aren’t the only ones annoyed by seeing the same ads every time they tune into Hulu or Pluto TV. Advertisers are also fed up about the issue.

Quibi Ads More Shows for Bite-Sized Streaming
Jon Lafayette, Broadcasting & Cable 

Quibi, the well-funded start up aiming to stream short videos to mobile phones, announced three more shows that will be available when it launches next year. The Nod with Brittany & Eric is a daily Black culture show starring Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings.

‘The Mandalorian’ gives female directors a chance to shine
Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press 

“Star Wars” has faced criticism for having a lack of female directors, but the popular franchise is making an effort to place more women in the prominent role starting with the new series “The Mandalorian.” The Disney Plus series, which airs Fridays, broke new ground for “Star Wars” when Deborah Chow became the first woman during a Nov. 22 episode to direct a live-action story in the 42-year history of the franchise.

Redbox no longer rents video games, and it will end game sales this year
Jay Peters, The Verge 

Redbox is exiting the game rental business, the company confirmed to The Verge on Monday. The company’s trademark rental kiosks have been a handy way to rent physical copies of movies (if you still have a disc drive to use to play them, that is), and they have been one of the few remaining places to rent physical copies of video games.

Disney+ could have 20 million subscribers by year-end, says Credit Suisse in raising its estimate
William Feuer, CNBC 

Credit Suisse expects Disney+ to pull in 20 million subscribers before the end of the year as app downloads level out after a post-launch frenzy and total subscriptions beat expectations. Analysts at the firm previously expected Disney’s new streaming service to finish the year with 14.3 million subscribers.

Ex-BuzzFeed Video Staffers Launch Watcher Entertainment Digital Studio
Todd Spangler, Variety 

After building their careers as internet personalities at BuzzFeed, the creators and hosts of three of the company’s biggest shows — Steven Lim, Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej — have formed their own digital-video venture.

Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research

The Golden Globes Just Can’t Quit Stars – and It’s Ruining Their Relevance
Libby Hill, IndieWire

Hollywood is a hell of a drug. To some, knowing that they walk the same streets as legitimately famous people who grace the covers of magazines and walk the red carpets and can be regularly seen on the big (or small) screen is intoxicating.

“Bombshell” Wants Us To See The Women Of Fox News As Heroes
Pier Dominguez, BuzzFeed News

Bombshell, the new Jay Roach movie about the women of Fox News who took down chair Roger Ailes, unveils its story almost like a procedural. If you’ve been following the news the past couple of years, you probably know the outcome.

Morning Consult