We're Entering Untested Entertainment Territory
Andy Marken November 6, 2024
0 Comments
Ventress wants to face it. You want to fight it. But I don't think I want either of those things. - Josie Radek, Annihilation, Paramount, 2018
Depending on which segment of the film/show industry and your organization, things are good, pretty good or not so good but looking up according to the folks on Wall Street.
Theaters expect to bring in $42 B in revenue this year even though they still complain that their theatrical windows are too short.
Oh sure, the actual number of tickets sold were still off, but they still expect to gross $44B in 2026. No, the growth isn't magic or cooking the books. All you have to do is charge more for the tickets (especially for the big hitter projects), bump up the cost of concessions a little and sell more greasy popcorn and sugared water drinks.
Patient Care - Film production is suffering in the US, especially in Hollywood where shoot days are off dramatically. Greenlighted projects have smaller crews and lower budgets this year.
Even though movie production is down - again - in Hollywood from its peak TV levels by 40 percent; the home of the famous production companies, the US, will still manage to deliver 1,523 movies this year plus a wide assortment of TV shows.
India, the world's second-oldest film production country, delivered more films/shows - a lot more - followed by the UK, China (most available only locally and SEA -Southeast Asia), France, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Canada and Australia.
The slow decline of ticket sales never bothered studios before because they could count on booster shots from broadcast and cable networks.
You know, 500 channels to flip through but still nothing to watch.
But at least you didn't have to jump into and out of the different channels. You only had to scroll through the EPG (electronic program guide) to find the movie you heard was good, show you wanted to catch up on or the neat out-of-the-way project you were interested in.
Issues Hit Home - The cost of fixed TV bundles with a major amount of unviewed channels, the lack of new/interesting content and fixed programming have taken a toll on pay TV subscriptions as people move to more economic, flexible entertainment options. The bundles won't disappear but will be less important to younger generations.
But the bundle was taking too much out of the family budget and people wanted a better, less expensive option for their home entertainment.
On Demand - Consumers in developed countries quickly began to prefer streaming services that delivered entertainment when you wanted and where you wanted it. People in developing countries are increasingly moving from their pay TV as well.
VOD (video on demand) suddenly became the home entertainment resource of choice especially when you could watch what you wanted, when you wanted, on the screen you wanted, and the cost was less than 10 bucks a month (in the Americas).
A helluva deal.
No wonder Netflix grew from the tech company all of Hollywood looked down on - and were more than willing to make and sell content to - until the company became the clear and undisputed leader of streaming video that recently reported they had nearly 264.5M subscribers in 190 countries around the world.
Somehow, the stalwart Silicon Valley company had figured out how once film/show production shifted to digital that VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray were just stepping stones in the shifting entertainment landscape to personalizing content and entertainment delivery.
Of course, they also had a secret technical advantage.
Yep, they had data on the shows/movies people watched, how long they watched it and the screen they watched it on in every region of the globe.
Leader - Using regional and global viewer content interest and data, Netflix continues its streaming leadership by mixing movies, shows, live events and more to provide subscribers with local and international entertainment.
They continue to keep their foot on the gas to maintain their leadership in the streaming arena, constantly investing in new and acquired projects (shows/movies) until they slowed down.
It wasn't because they needed to show Wall Street profits because they have been and are.
They released 92 original seasons this year, down slightly from the prior year, along with a slew of acquired titles including a number of international titles that grabbed viewer interest/attention regardless of their home country.
In addition, they broadened their offerings with live events like boxing, WWE, wrestling and NFL football with more sports and live events sure to follow.
They probably would have liked to have some of the Euro 2024 and Copa America futbol action which was huge everywhere but North America where the sport is consistently misspelled.
Source - Paramount
Back for More - People may run through the shows/movies they've just got to see but live sporting events keep sucking them back into the various services they subscribe to. Some events are just too important to miss.
But there's always next year and other sport contests that suck people in who have to watch.
In addition, they surprised Wall Street (and the competition) by clamping down on password sharing, gaining subscribers rather than losing viewers. There's more work to be done in weaning folks off the sharing habit but they're doing it professionally and the content consuming public is coming around.
Actually, they are the only true streaming entertainment service but then:
We know YouTube is a streamer (and a huge one), but we still find it hard to view them as a real content development, creation, production, delivery company but rather an ad company that makes money from the stuff the creator generation puts up
Prime is a close number 2 to Netflix an
North America Stories
14/11/2026
Marcelo Dai's Live Session Captured with URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton November 14, 2026
0 Comments
Artist takes viewers on an immersive journe...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Newest Lenses, Horizon Anamorphic Seminar & Guided Lens Character Experience Highlight Creative Possibilities
At the 2026 Toru CAMERIMAGE Film Festival, ZEISS...
14/11/2026
Sonnet Announces Black Friday Sale on Select Products
Brie Clayton November 14, 2026
0 Comments
WHAT: Sonnet Technologies is having a sale on a select...
14/11/2026
Berklee Alumni Shine at the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards This year's winners included songwriters, engineers, and performers who contributed to acclaimed reco...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
12/11/2026
uniqFEED has opened a Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Madrid, Spain. It is already operational, delivering virtual advertising for LaLiga matches. The ROC is ...
12/11/2026
Disney, ESPN and the NBA will present Dunk the Halls, the third real-time animated NBA game using Sony's Beyond Sports data visualization technology, on Chr...
12/11/2026
Van Wagner has launched Van Wagner RELAY, a digital platform for official athlet...
12/11/2026
Deal brings together two of the industry's most established graphics brands and significantly expands Vizrt's footprint in U.S. sports and regional broa...
We're Entering Untested Entertainment Territory 
