THEY SAY THE NEON LIGHTS ARE BRIGHT… ON CBS

Broadway has fully bounced back from its 2020-21 Covid shutdown, with 35 shows currently running and gross ticket sales up by around $2 million per week versus last year. Paramount hopes this translates to high ratings for this Sunday’s Tony Awards, which will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+. The 2021 awards, held in September of that year, delivered a record low of 2.8 million total viewers. Things improved in 2022 when 3.9 million tuned in and got even better in 2023 with 4.3 million. Even if viewership miraculously doubles this year, it will still be just under 2016’s high of 8.7 million—when cultural juggernaut Hamilton won Best Musical. (MediaPost:  June 13, 2024)

HOW VIEWERS DECIDE WHAT TO WATCH

A recent FreeWheel and Comcast Advertising study asked TV viewers how they decide what to watch. The results… probably won’t surprise you. Of the 1,500 respondents, 78% cited genre as being “foundational” in their decision-making. Following close behind were the viewers’ mood and their schedules. And how do they learn about new content? Word of mouth took the top two positions, with friends and family (55%) and social media (49%). Our takeaway: Viewer behavior has changed in many ways, but at its core, it still comes down to which genres we like and what we hear is worth watching. (Marketing Charts:  June 4, 2024)

UPCOMING NBA MEDIA DEALS

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has called the media rights process “complex.” He adds that nothing is finalized yet, but details are beginning to emerge in the press. The deals that are reportedly nearly done would go into effect after the 24/25 season and could change the sports TV landscape for a decade. As of now, there are three major deals in play:  ESPN/ABC, NBC, and Amazon; the deals range from around $2.0 to $2.8 billion per year, and each would include varying numbers of regular- and post-season games. Notably absent: Warner Bros. Discovery, whose TNT Sports has carried NBA games since 1988. WBD has matching rights on NBC’s bid, but the league will likely argue that a dollar-for-dollar match isn’t sufficient, given NBC’s larger broadcast infrastructure. Lawyers for the NBA and WBD are reportedly preparing for a trip to… basketball court. (WSJ: June 6, 2024)

STREAMING IS STARTING TO LOOK LIKE CABLE

Streaming platforms are taking on some of Cable’s time-tested strategies like dual revenue streams, bundling, and investing in live sports (see story above). Why? Because cable is not dead, despite the obits you may have read, and the model it established still works. Even if Cable has indeed been vanquished, it’s been replaced by the same thing with a cooler name. (MediaPost: June 7, 2024)

THIS WEEK IN VIDEO HISTORY

June 15, 1878 – The world’s first moving pictures are filmed to see if all four of a horse’s hooves leave the ground as it runs. They used 12 cameras, each taking one picture.

This will probably be the farthest back we’ll ever go with this feature, but it’s worth commemorating. Without this innovation taking place 146 years ago, we wouldn’t have anything to write about every two weeks.