Entertainment Business Thread

[Toups]

 

" The Justice Department is investigating whether Ticketmaster’s parent company Live Nation has abused its power as the dominant force in the live music industry, The New York Times reports. 

News of the investigation broke at the end of a chaotic week for Ticketmaster, which was unable to handle the massive demand for tickets for Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour.” The Swift debacle, however, is just the latest instance where Ticketmaster/Live Nation has garnered scrutiny, with similar chaos and frustrations over wait times and price mark-ups surrounding ticket sales for artists like Harry Styles and Bruce Springsteen.  

Despite the timing of the news, the DOJ’s antitrust division had already spent several months digging into Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Though specifics are scarce, the investigation appears to be looking at whether Live Nation does have a monopoly over the industry.

......

Along with the reported investigation, this week saw calls from congress to look into Live Nation. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar — who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights — sent a letter to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino expressing concern over what she called a lack of competition in the live music industry. New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also criticized the Live Nation/Ticketmaster “monopoly” and called to “break them up.” (After news of the DOJ investigation broke, AOC tweeted, “That was fast.”)"

 

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What perfect timing to announce this after this past week's fiasco with Taylor Swift concert tickets.  Live Nation/Ticketmaster's monopoly needs to be broken up.  Personal note: I did not get any tickets, despite spending hours trying. 

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[Toups]

 

 

[Vee]

A pretty remarkable fall for a widely-loathed boss among retail/park staff:

 

[Toups]

A bit longer article from the LA Times: Behind the stunning exit of Disney CEO Bob Chapek

 

[j swift]

I read it so you don't have to - Chapek is getting 23 million dollars cash in severance, a pension, and a bunch of stock after loosing 1.5 billion dollars this year in grosses for Disney, on streaming alone, this year.

[I Am A Swede]

Isn't that what these people normally do, fail upwards?    

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[Toups]

 

 

[Khan]

Ironically, @Vee and I talked earlier this week (in the thread about the maybe-it's-not-dead-after-all AMC primetime reboot) about Paramount's ongoing financial woes:

I actually laughed when I saw that both Showtime cable and Showtime streaming had been rebranded as "Paramount + with Showtime."  What a cumbersome ass name, I thought, for an outlet that probably will have to rebrand itself again if/when Paramount + goes under.

So, what would they have to rename it as, should this latest merger come to fruition?  "Max and Paramount + With Showtime, Too!"?  Better yet, just leave it blank, but with the tagline "Call it whatever the [!@#$%^&*] you want."

Either way, I don't envy anyone who works for WBD or Paramount Global one bit.

Meanwhile, according to that THP article, Byron Allen has resubmitted his $3.5B offer to buy BET Networks from Paramount (who sees BET as a "non-core" asset, b/c, black folks).  Reason?  Because his janky sitcoms have to go somewhere!

[DramatistDreamer]

And added onto the tagline should be “…but you’ll still end up with added subscriber fees “.

What programming does Byron Allen actually do anyway? All I can think of is those odd programs featuring random clips of celebrity interview with inserted canned music. What else has he done?

There could be an entire documentary about the series of missteps and bad business decisions that various BET CEOs and executives made that caused BET’s slide downward.

It began with good intentions but what is BET actually about now?

[DramatistDreamer]

Make way for the Mickey Mouse inspired fan art and non-Disney merch. 

https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/mickey-mouse-public-domain-disney-copyright-lawsuits-1235844322/

[Toups]

The Hollywood Reporter: Bob Iger Prepares for Ike’s Pirate Ship to Fire at Disney

 

Ike Permutter is a Trump supporter and an alleged racist.  I hope he doesn't win this war with Iger. 

[Toups]

Hollywood Reporter: Live Nation Sued By Justice Department In Antitrust Lawsuit Seeking Break Up

 

Finally! I hope it happens.  Ticket prices in North America are insanely high, especially in the resale/secondary market.   I was looking at some of the European prices on the secondary market for Taylor Swift tickets and they are so much cheaper. 

[Faulkner]