Need to Know
AMC, Universal strike historic deal to cut theatrical window to 17 days
It took a pandemic and the threat of bankruptcy, but AMC Theatres and Universal Studios finally took the deal that has been sitting on the table for at least the last two years, had anyone wanted to pick it up. Under an agreement announced Tuesday, Universal will be able to make its movies available for viewing in-home, via premium VOD, as soon as 17 days after their theatrical debuts, and AMC will get a cut of the PVOD revenue. How much of a cut and how it will be calculated was not disclosed.
The agreement ends as nasty feud between the companies that began in April when AMC, the largest circuit in the U.S., vowed to stop showing Universal movies after Uni’s PVOD release of Trolls World Tour. It also raises a host of questions for the rest of the industry: Will AMC’s competitors follow suit? Will Universals? What happens when the Covid pandemic finally ends? What does it mean for the studios’ “tent pole” strategy? Where does it leave Netflix and other big SVOD players that don’t support pay-per-view?
But it was also inevitable. If theaters and theatrical exhibition are to survive, some sort of accommodation to or integration with in-home viewing is essential. Shorter windows for a cut of the VOD was the obvious deal to make, at least initially, and Covid has now made the obvious inescapable. It may not be the last, or even the optimal deal to make, but you have to start somewhere.
What won’t happen in Vegas
The litany of fairs, festivals, conferences and gatherings that have been cancelled due to Covid is already a long one. Now, the granddaddy of them all, International CES, will not be happening in Las Vegas as scheduled in January 2021. Instead, its sponsor, the Consumer Technology Assn., will offer “an all digital experience.”
There was some circumstantial evidence that the January 2020 edition of CES served as an early super-spreader event for Covid in the U.S. In recent years, the show has drawn 150,000 or more attendees from around the world, making it the world’s largest trade show. It attracts a significant Chinese presence, given China’s dominant position in electronics manufacturing and assembly, and many non-Chinese executive who travel regularly between the U.S. and the People’s Republic. At the time, the SARS-COVID 2 virus was raging across some parts of China.
Ironically (and haplessly), the U.S. has now become the world’s super-spreader of the virus and it’s doubtful the Chinese or anyone else would be eager to come here, even if current travel restrictions are lifted by January.
RightsTech Roundtable
Accurate, comprehensive and authoritative metadata is critical to the success of the Music Modernization Act and the broader music streaming economy. Join Paul Jessop of County Analytics and Scott Day of #SoundExchange at the next RightsTech Roundtable for a conversation on an important step forward. Register today tinyurl.com/yyjqcyxl
Nice to know
Spotify Hits 299 Million Active Users in Q2; Listening Hours Bounced Back to ‘Pre-COVID Levels’
Spotify’s user and subscriber growth came in at the top end of expectations for the second quarter of 2020, but the company’s bottom line was hit by a 48% increase in operating costs from stock-related compensation charges. In addition, ad revenue fell 21% — which Spotify blamed on the coronavirus pandemic — but the drop wasn’t quite as bad as forecast. Source: Variety
Why Comic-Con ‘At Home’ Was a Bust
If a fan convention is held on the internet and no one’s there to talk about it, does it make any noise? That was the overwhelming experience with Comic-Con@Home, the virtual fan convention that ran from July 22-26. Source: Variety
Everything you need to know from the tech antitrust hearing
The CEOs of Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon are testifying in Congress today — trying to convince the House Judiciary Committee that their business practices don’t amount to anti-competitive monopolies. It’s one of the biggest tech oversight moments in recent years, part of a long-running antitrust investigation that has mustered hundreds of hours of interviews and over a million documents from the companies in question. Source: The Verge
Need a Campaign Song? Mick Jagger, Sia & More Sign Open Letter Urging Politicians to Ask First
Stars of rock, pop and hip-hop have had enough of hearing their songs pumped at political rallies without the green light. So they’re standing up for their rights. Today, the Artist Rights Alliance is demanding politicians on both sides get clearance on the music they plug at their events and in advertisements. Source: Billboard
Algorithm finds hidden connections between paintings at the Met
For many, art and science are irreconcilable: one grounded in logic, reasoning, and proven truths, and the other motivated by emotion, aesthetics, and beauty. But recently, AI and art took on a new flirtation that, over the past 10 years, developed into something more serious. Source: MIT News