Relativity Media

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Alexandra Romano

–Relativity Media Logo–

Relativity Media, LLC

9242 Beverly Blvd.
Suite 300
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310.724-7700

History

Founded in 2004, Relativity Media began as a mediator between studios and investors to arrange film deals. Since then, it has become a full-scale film studio that has produced critically acclaimed films such as “The Fighter”, and “The Social Network.” In addition to being involved in the production, financing and or distribution of over 200 films, Relativity has divisions in television, sports, music fashion and digital media–truly establishing the company as a next-generation studio. [1]

LEADERSHIP

Ryan Kavanaugh–CEO, Relativity Media

Ryan Kavanaugh founded Relativity in 2004, and has had an active role in its transition into a film studio and beyond. Kavanaugh began his career in Hollywood aiding in the finance for companies such as Universal, Sony and Warner Bros. His experience in film finance has allowed Relativity to produce well-performing films on lower budgets [2]. Under his leadership,Relativity Media has produced over 200 films for a return of over $17 billion in revenue and 60 Oscar nominations [3].

Tucker Tooley, President-Relativity Media

Happy Walters, Co-Chief Operating Officer-Relativity Media

Robbie Brenner, President of Production-Relativity Media

FINANCIALS

Relativity Media is a privately owned company, however its current projects and investments indicate its financial success. As stated before, the company has earned over $17 billion dollars through film productions. With this revenue, Relativity has been able to establish itself in other sectors that have contributed to its financial standings. In September of 2013, Relativity announced it would be creating a fashion division called M3/Relativity [4], in which Relativity would act as a representative for various members of the fashion industry from designers to make up artists. The company also has a sports division [5], in which it represents athletes such as Dwight Howard and David Ortiz.

On March 26th, 2014 Relativity acquired a share of Downtown Records [6] in which Relativity would invest in Downtown to sign new artists and expand their label, as well as to help the record label to share in Relativity’s global success. Most recently on April 14th, 2014, Relativity put in a bid of $500 million to acquire Maker Studios, and nearly $1.1 billion in stock. Founded in 2009, Maker Studios is a short form, online video platform and production company that targets younger audiences and the demand for online content [7]. Though Maker Studios had already approved a merger with Disney, executives at Relativity continue to show their eagerness to create new, exciting forms of content that further enforces Relativity’s brand not only creatively but monetarily as well.

TELEVISION

Relativity Media has also begun to break the mold by establishing a television branch in 2008 called RelativityREAL, which was recreated as Relativity Television in 2013.The television division led by CEO Tom Forman had originally produced exclusively unscripted content, but is now in the development stages of producing comedies and dramas [8]. Amongst its programming is one of the most wildly popular reality series on television, “Catfish.” “Catfish” follows Nev Shulman, producer of Catfish: The Movie, on his quest to help those who are in online relationships find the truth behind the computer screen. The third season of Catfish is set to premiere May 7th, 2014 on MTV, and is expected to do as well in ratings as “Catfish: Season 2”, which reached the number one spot in the 12-34 demographic in June 2013 [9].

Nev Shulman: Host and Executive Producer of MTV’s “Catfish”

FILM

Relativity Media’s film division is the largest sector of the company, and is responsible for films such as the Nicholas Sparks penned-hit “Safe Haven” and war-time drama thriller “Act of Valor” both of which earned about $70 million each in the domestic box office [10].

“Oculus” In Theatres Now

For 2014, Relativity has done well in the box office. “Oculus”, the horror thriller, has earned over $21 million with a $5 million budget since its April 11th release [11]. Considering its low budget and competition with blockbusters such as “Rio 2” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, “Oculus” is receiving immense success this spring season.

In addition to “Oculus”, Relativity was moderately successful with “3 Days to Kill” which earned about $36 million world wide on a $28 million budget and stars Academy Award winner Kevin Costner [12].

The future of Relativity’s Film division is rather promising. On April 25th 2014, Relativity will release “Brick Mansions”, a dystopian action thriller starring late Paul Walker in one of his last performances, and has been much anticipated by viewers.

DIVERSITY IN FILM [13]

Relativity Creative Executive Josh Reinhold believes the upcoming projects will establish them as a main competitor in the entertainment industry. He believes that Relativity is on the forefront of producing films with diverse casts whom tell a story that more than just the majority can enjoy and relate to.

Discussing plans for Relativity to establish its own “arthouse” film division 278 Films (name in development), Reinhold believes this will open the doors for stories that “hasn’t been told before.” One of these stories takes the form of an upcoming film titled “Desert Dance”, which tells the story of a young Iranian man whom is threatened by his government for doing the thing he loves, which is to dance. Reinhold believes the value in films such as “Desert Dance” (undated), is that there are many other audiences to reach that will fall in love with the characters and make a meaningful connection with them.

Another film Reinhold feels will break the mold is “Blackbird”, which is set for a November 14th 2014 release. The film depicts the struggle of a young African-American woman as she begins her career in the music industry, and was written by Gina Prince Blythewood (author of “Love & Basketball”). Of “Blackbird” and “Desert Dance”, Reinhold said: “Seeing how Hollywood will have to shift in the way they cast actors and diversify stories is inspiring” [13].

SOURCES:

[1] http://www.relativitymedia.com/About.aspx DATE ACCESSED: April 12th, 2014.

[2] http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2013/04/17/why-ryan-kavanaugh-is-now-the-most-watched-man-in-hollywood/ DATE ACCESSED: April 18th, 2014

[3] http://www.relativitymedia.com/About.aspx (Ryan Kavanaugh CEO Bio) DATE ACCESSED: March 31st, 2014

[4] http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/relativity-media-moves-fashion-representation-625951 DATE ACCESSED: February 19th, 2014

[5] http://www.relativitysports.com/ DATE ACCESSED: April 20th, 2014

[6] http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/record-labels/5944964/relativity-media-acquires-stake-in-downtown-records DATE ACCESSED: April 12th, 2014

[7] http://variety.com/2014/biz/news/relativity-offers-up-to-900-million-for-maker-studios-in-bid-to-outflank-disney-1201156736/ DATE ACCESSED: April 15th, 2014

[8] http://www.relativitymedia.com/RelativityTV.aspx DATE ACCESSED: April 15th, 2014

[9] http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/mtv-announces-premiere-for-third-season-of-catfish-tv-show-16155.php DATE ACCESSED: April 15th, 2014

[10] http://boxofficemojo.com/

DATE ACCESSED: April 20th, 2014

[11] http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=oculus.htm DATE ACCESSED: April 20th, 2014

[12] http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=threedaystokill.htm DATE ACCESSED: April 20th, 2014

[13] Personal Phone Interview with Creative Executive at Relativity Media Josh Reinhold DATE OF INTERVIEW: March 25th, 2014

Lionsgate Entertainment

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Alexandra Koskoris

By Ali Koskoris

Lionsgate Entertainment

Photo Courtesy of destructoid.com[i]

Contact Information:[ii]

2700 Colorado Avenue, Suite 200, Santa Monica,CA 90404

1-310-449-9200

www.lionsgate.com

About Lionsgate Entertainment:

Founded in 1997 in Canada [iii], Lionsgate Films is an independent international entertainment company and segment of the Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation. It produces and distributes motion pictures, television programming and syndication, animation, and digital media. [iv] In 2003 the company merged with Artisan Entertainment and in 2012 it purchased Summit Entertainment for approximately $413 million. [v]

Lionsgate has gained momentum by creating blockbuster film franchises based on books, including Twilight, The Hunger Games, and Divergent. [vi] With a focus on cost discipline, Lionsgate releases approximately fifteen feature films and six to eight specialty films a year through its sister company, Roadside Attractions. The company television section also has close to thirty television series distributed through multiple mediums, including Mad Men and Orange is the New Black, and holds contracts with Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon. [vii]

Key Executives:

Photos and info Courtesy of: http://www.lionsgate.com [viii]

Financials:

In 2013 Lionsgate Entertainment earned $2.7 billion dollars – a 70.58% growth from 2012- and had a gross income of $1.3 billion dollars- a 95.22% gross income increase from 2012. [ix] Thus far in 2014 (through April 13), Lionsgate has grossed approximately $232 million domestically, led by recent release, Divergent and followed by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which is no longer in theatres. [x] The company stays small, with just 636 employees worldwide. [xi]

What’s Happening Now?

In 2014, Lionsgate Entertainment released eight films, and five are still in theatres. Divergent, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and I, Frankenstein lead 2014 in gross so far respectively (with the latter two out of theatres). [xii]

Divergent
The third of Lionsgate’s novel-to-film franchises, Divergent tells the story of a young woman who finds out she does not fit into the confined factions of her world and is “Divergent.” She must find out the truth about what it means to be Divergent when she uncovers a plot to destroy her faction. The film, directed by Neil Burger, is based on the Veronica Roth novel and features rising star Shailene Woodley. [xiii]

Photo Courtesy of http://themoviemash.com/ [xvi]

Photo Courtesy of themoviemash.com [xiv]

In its opening weekend (21-23 March 2014), Divergent topped the box office charts, grossing approximately $54.6 million domestically to its $85 million budget. Currently in its fourth week in theatres, the film has grossed $178.4 million worldwide. [xv] Like Harry Potter and the Twilight Saga, Lionsgate announced on 15 April 2014 that Allegiant, the third and final book of the series, will be split into two films. Part one will be released on 18 March 2016 and Part 2 will be released on 24 March, 2017. [xvi]

Draft Day
Draft Day tells the story of an NFL general manager who works to rebuild his team by trading for the number one pick. The film is directed by Ivan Reitman and it stars American sportscaster Chris Berman and actress Jennifer Garner. [xvii]

Photo Courtesy of IMDb

During its opening weekend (11-13 April 2014), the film ranked number four in domestic weekend gross, making about $9.7 million. As of 18 April 2014, it has grossed $15.8 million domestically. [xviii]

Tyler Perry’s The Single Moms Club
Tyler Perry’s The Single Moms Club is about a group of five single moms who overcome problems through their support group. Written and directed by Tyler Perry, the film stars Nia Long and Wendi McLendon-Covey. [xix]

Photo Courtesy of IMDb

For its opening weekend, the film ranked number five in domestic gross with $8 million. In week five (as of 17 April 2014), the film has grossed $15.8 million domestically. [xx]

Photo Courtesy of IMDb [xxv]

Joe In addition to these three films, Lionsgate is boasting Joe, a film distributed by Roadside Attractions. The film, starring Nicolas Cage and directed by David Gordon Green, tells the story of an ex-con who befriends a teenaged boy. [xxi] The film is different from Lionsgate’s other recent films because it was released On Demand on the same day it was released in theatres (11 April 2014). [xxii] The film was released in just 48 theatres domestically and, as of 20 April 2014, has grossed about $330 thousand at the domestic box office. [xxiii] The film has received positive reviews, with an 84% rating from Rotten Tomatoes and a 79% rating from audiences. [xxiv]

In Other News:

Photo Courtesy of rocketjump.com [xxvii]

On 14 April 2014, Lionsgate announced that it has created a multi-year partnership with video creator RocketJump Studios, which gained fame through its web series Video Game High School. RocketJump has 6.8 million subscribers and shows its content through multiple platforms. The partnership gives Lionsgate access to RocketJump’s digital content and gives RocketJump access to Lionsgate’s international marketing resources. [xxvi]

Photo Courtesy of Yahoo! [xxix]

On 20 March 2014 Lionsgate extended its contract with producer Grindstone Entertainment Group through a multi-year agreement. The team has been successful in the past with films like Empire State and Frozen Ground. Lionsgate Co-COO Steve Beeks said that Lionsgate is excited about the extension. [xxviii]

What’s to Come:

Lionsgate will release its newest film, The Quiet Ones, on 25 April 2014. The film, based on a true story, directed by John Pogue, and starring Jared Harris and Sam Claflin, tells the story of a professor and a group of students who uncover terrible secrets when they experiment on a young girl.[xxx]

Photo Courtesy of IMDb [xxxi]

Reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes seem to be mixed, so it should be interesting to see how the film does in theatres. [xxxii]

Photo Courtesy of IMDb [xxxiv]

On 25 July 2014, Lionsgate will release Step Up: All In, the fifth installment of the Step Up series. The film tells of a dancer and his dance crew who work to win an LA dance competition. The film is directed by Trish Sie and stars Ryan Guzman and Briana Evigan. Multiple stars from the previous films are featured as well. There are not yet any reviews for the film. [xxxiii]

Photo Courtesy of IMDb [xxxvi]

Lionsgate will also be releasing The Expendables 3 on 15 August 2014. Directed by Patrick Hughes and starring Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham, the third film in the series tells of the conflict between The Expendables and the founder’s new, younger group of Expendables. The film also has not received any reviews. [xxxv]

Photo Courtesy of itk.ua [xxxix]

In addition to releasing three new films, Lionsgate will be recognized as the Company of Distinction for 2014 at the Banff World Media Festival (8-11 June 2014). [xxxvii] Lionsgate will be receiving this award because of its success, its diverse programming, and its “visionary approach to the global television business.” [xxxviii]

[i] Lionsgate Logo From 26 July 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[ii] Lionsgate Contact Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[iii] Founded From 24 Jan 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[iv] What Liongate does Updated 17 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[v] Merging with Artisan and Summit From 24 Jan 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[vi] Blockbuster Film Franchises Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[vii] Distribution Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[viiii] Key Executives Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[ix] 2013 Gross Income Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[x] 2014 Income Until April 13. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xi] Employees Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xii] 2014 Films Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xiii] Divergent Synopsis Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xiv] Divergent Poster Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xv] Divergent Financials As of 17 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xvi] Divergent’s Future From 15 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xvii] Draft Day Synopsis Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xviii] Draft Day Opening Week As of 17 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xix] Tyler Perry’s the Single Moms Club Synopsis Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xx] Tyler Perry Financials As of 17 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xxi] Joe Synopsis Retrieved 20 April 2014.

[xxii] Joe On Demand Retrieved 20 April 2014.

[xxiii] Joe Financials As of 20 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.

[xxiv] Joe Ratings As of 20 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.

[xxv] Joe Poster Retrieved 20 April 2014.

[xxvi] RocketJump Studios From 14 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xxvii] RocketJump Logo Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xxviii] Grindstone Extension 20 March 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xxix] Grindstone Logo Retrieved 18 April 2014.

[xxx] The Quiet Ones Synopsis Retrieved 19 April 2014.

[xxxi] The Quiet Ones Poster Retrieved 19 April 2014.

[xxxii] The Quiet Ones Reviews As of 19 April 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.

[xxxiii] Step Up: All In Synopsis Retrieved 19 April 2014.

[xxxiv] Step Up: All In Poster Retrieved 19 April 2014.

[xxxv] The Expendables 3 Synopsis Retrieved 19 April 2014.

[xxxvi] The Expendables Poster Retrieved 19 April 2014.

[xxxvii] “Company of Distinction for 2014” From 27 March 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.

[xxxviii] Why Receiving Award Retrieved 19 April 2014.

[xxxix] Banff Logo Retrieved 19 April 2014.

DreamWorks Studios

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Jung Sir

By Kevin Sir

Courtesy of wholemovieinfo.com [a]

DreamWorks Studios
100 Universal City Plaza Dr., Bldg. 5121
Universal City, CA 91608
P: (818) 733-9300
http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/

Key Executives

Steven Spielberg (Principal Partner) [b]

Stacey Snider (Principal Partner / Co-Chairman / CEO) [c]

Jeff Small (President / Chief Operating Officer) [d]

Holly Bario (President of Production) [e]

Company Overview

In 2007, DreamWorks introduced Stacey Snider, who was a former Chairman of Universal Studios, as the current Co-Chair and CEO of DreamWorks. In 2008, a $1.5 billion dollar deal was made with an Indian investment firm, Reliance ADA Group enabling DreamWorks’ films to be distributed and promoted by The Walt Disney Studios. [1] [2]

Brief History

Formerly identified as DW II Distribution Company, LLC, DreamWorks Studios is now known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks Pictures, and/or DreamWorks. The emergence of DreamWorks took place on October 12, 1994 when Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen decided to establish Hollywood a new studio. The “SKG” appearing on the bottom of the logo for both DreamWorks and DreamWorks Animation (DWA) was created based off of these founders’ last names. In 2004, DWA separated from DreamWorks to form two companies. The license for the “DreamWorks” name and logo are licensed through DWA. Viacom, who was the parent company of Paramount Pictures on December 11, 2005, bought DreamWorks, however in 2008, DreamWorks gained back its independence. [1] [2]

Financials

MV5BMTQ3ODY4NzYzOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjI3OTE4MDE@._V1_SX214_AL_

Need For Speed Poster,
Courtesy of IMDb [f]

Contrary to DreamWorks Animation, DreamWorks Studio’s financials are unattainable since the company still remains as a privately held company. However, monumental financial information about DreamWorks can be attained through deeper research. As mentioned in the Company Overview, the agreements made with both Viacom and Reliance ADA Group add up to be about $3 billion dollars and this has saved DreamWorks’ debt from the previous years’ loss. Also, the information and performance from past films can roughly estimate how the company is doing in terms of revenue. DreamWorks’ most recent film, “Need For Speed” released in March 14, 2014 has successfully made profit overall. To look at it closely, the domestic gross profit for “Need For Speed,” which is roughly $42 million dollars did not even nearly meet its production budget of $66 million dollars. However, the film was a success internationally considering it made $143 million dollars. “Need For Speed” was successful in making a total of $120 million dollars, and indeed, it was a much needed profit due to DreamWorks’ failure to make profit with its past films.

need-for-speed-trailer-starring-aaron-paul-looks-like-the-sixth-season-of-breaking-bad

Aaron Paul pictured, Courtesy of Business Insider [g]

There are several reasons for the success of “Need For Speed.” First, it was originally a very popular game that debuted back in 1994, which could have drawn the video gamer audience. Also, the film starred Aaron Paul, who plays Jesse Pinkman on Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad won 10 Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, and the show’s buzz has turned Jesse Pinkman into a household name. For these reasons, this enabled the film to draw in a wider audience.

Need for Speed debuted in 1994, and over the course of the next two decades, the game would evolve under several studios such as Black Box and Criterion Games. The series has been a critical and commercial hit with gamers. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Right Here, Right Now

After researching and looking at the patterns, the DreamWorks Studio has dramatically decreased the amount of movie being released since the year 2012. In fact, in 2012 and 2013, only two movies were released each year, and following its pattern, DreamWorks is planning on releasing only two movies in 2014 as well. [7]

The Prey Poster,
Courtesy of IMDb [h]

On January 15^th, 2014, after attaining the rights from Brio Films, Studio Canal and Cohen Media Group, DreamWorks Studios plans to remake a French film called “La Proie” from 2011; the remake will be called “The Prey” Originally directed by Eric Valette, La Proie has an attention grabbing plot which centers around a crook who needs to escape out of jail to save his family from his former cellmate and confidante who is a serial killer. With its remake, the film has an advantage of potentially attracting French people who has already seen the movie and want to watch an American remake version. In addition, the international gross profit could even exceed the domestic’s. [8]

Pictured Producer Marc Platt (“The Girl on the Train”)
Courtesy of Variety [i]

On March 24, 2014, DreamWorks Studios obtained the rights from Paula Hawkins, the author of “The Girl on the Train” for Marc Platt to produce as a R-rated movie. The novel centers around a young woman who gets involved in a murder investigation as a witness. From this news, DreamWorks Studios is on a path of producing mainly thrillers in its upcoming years. [9]

“Eleanor & Park” Courtesy of p.gr-assets.com [j]

On April 2, 2014, DreamWorks Studios attained the rights from Rainbow Rowell to make her novel, “Eleanor & Park,” into a movie. The movie takes a place in year 1986 in high school in Omaha with two 16 year olds: Eleanor, an insecure girl, and Park, a half-Korean boy who attempt to find themselves. [10]

“Made In Sweden” Courtesy of cdn-s3.thewrap.com [k]

On April 7, 2014, DreamWorks Studios announced that Mark Sourian will produce a crime thriller from the Swedish novel called “Made in Sweden” by Anders Roslund and Stefan Thunberg. Along with the authors, Niclas Salomonsson will executive produce.The novel is about a bank robbery from Sweden’s history and a story about a band of brothers who were involved in it. The audience should be prepared for the upcoming works of DreamWorks Studios that are filled heavily with small budgeted chilling thriller movies. [11]

Coming Up

Manish Dayal Pictured, Courtesy of http://i1.cdnds.net/ [l]

DreamWorks will be releasing a new film on August 8th, 2014 called “The Hundred-Foot Journey.” Due to the fact that this movie is still in the early development stages, a trailer is not available yet. “The Hundred-Foot Journey” centers around an Indian family who moves to France, and then opens up a restaurant across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant. Hassan Kadam, who is played by Manish Dayal, is a phenomenal culinary cook and after being displaced from their native India, the Kadam family moves to a village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val located in the south of France. After opening up an Indian restaurant called the ‘Maison Mumbai,’ Madame Mallory, who is played by Helen Mirren, decides to protest against the new Indian restaurant. The rivalry between the restaurants come to an end as Madame Mallory admits and recognizes Hassan’s gift as a chef and takes him under her wing.

MV5BNzI1Mjg5MjAyNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjc2NDA0MDE@._V1_SY317_CR131,0,214,317_AL_

Oprah (Left)
Helen Mirren (Right)
Courtesy of IMDb [m]

DreamWorks is focused on improving profits due to its loss from the past few years. The budget for their upcoming movie “The Hundred-Foot Journey” is approximately $25 million dollars. Of course, this budget is by no means small; however, as compared to DreamWorks’ film previous budgets in the past, it is evident to acknowledge that DreamWorks is cutting budgets and focusing more on making a profit. Also, what is interesting about “The Hundred-Foot Journey” is that Oprah Winfrey is one of the producers. It is quite safe to conclude that having Oprah as a producer is one of the strategies that DreamWorks plans on employing in hopes of attracting wider audiences. Indeed, the “Oprah Effect.” In hopes of making a profit with DreamWorks’ new small budget strategy, this is a clever and strategic approach because Oprah can “suddenly turn a small, unprofitable business into a multimillion-dollar company.” In this case, hopefully these types of results are seen with this movie. [12] [13]

Sources:

[1] DreamWorks Studios – History, dreamworksstudios.com, RT: 4/16/14

[2] DreamWorks Studios – FAQ, dreamworksstudios.com, RT: 4/16/14

[3] 3 Reasons ‘Need for Speed’ Could Be the Next ‘Fast & Furious’, fool.com, Leo Sun, 2/17/14, RT: 4/16/14

[4] Aaron Paul Facts: 17 Things You (Probably) Don’t Know About the ‘Need for Speed’ Star, news.moviefone.com, Jonny Black, 3/14/14, RT: 4/16/14

[5] EA and DreamWorks Lift the Curtain on Need for Speed the Movie, investor.ea.com, 6/10/14, RT: 4/16/14

[6] Box Office Mojo – Need For Speed, boxofficemojo.com, RT: 4/16/14

[7] Movie Insider – DreamWorks Studios, movieinsider.com, RT: 4/16/14

[8] DreamWorks To Remake French Thriller ‘The Prey’, dreamworksstudios.com, Mike Fleming Jr., 1/15/14, RT: 4/16/14

[9] DreamWorks Acquires Novel ‘The Girl on the Train’ for Marc Platt, dreamworksstudios.com, Justin Kroll, 3/24/14, RT: 4/16/14

[10] ‘Eleanor & Park’: DreamWorks picks up film rights to Rainbow Rowell novel, dreamworksstudios.com, Anthony Breznican, 4/2/14, RT: 4/16/14

[11] DreamWorks Studios Options Crime Thriller Book “Made in Sweden”, dreamworksstudios.com, 4/7/14, RT: 4/16/14

[12] DreamWorks Studios – The Hundred-Foot Journey, dreamworksstudios.com, RT: 4/16/14

[13] Investopedia – Oprah Effect, investopedia.com, RT: 4/16/14

Multimedia Sources

[a] DreamWorks Studios Logo, wholemovieinfo.com, RT: 4/16/14

[b] Steven Spielberg Photo & Info, dreamworksstudios.com, RT: 4/16/14

[c] Stacey Snider Photo & Info, dreamworksstudios.com, RT: 4/16/14

[d] Jeff Small Photo & Info, dreamworksstudios.com, RT: 4/16/14

[e] Holly Bario Photo & Info, dreamworksstudios.com, RT: 4/16/14

[f] Need For Speed Poster – IMDb, IMDb.com, RT: 4/16/14

[g] Photo of Aaron Paul, static4.businessinsider.com, RT: 4/16/14

[h] The Prey Poster -IMDb, IMDb.com, RT: 4/16/14

[i] Photo of Marc Platt, variety.com, RT: 4/16/14

[j] Photo of Eleanor and Park, p.gr-assets.com, RT: 4/16/14

[k] Photo of ‘Made in Sweden’, cdn-s3.thewrap.com, RT: 4/16/14

[l] Photo of Manish Dayal, cdnds.net, RT: 4/16/14

[m] Photo of Oprah and Helen, IMDb.com, RT: 4/16/14

CBS Films

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Jessica Breslow

By Jessica Breslow

Courtesy of CBS Films [a]

CBS Films
11800 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: (310) 575-7000
www.cbsfilms.com

Brief History

CBS Films, operating as a subsidiary of CBS Corporations, was founded only 7 years ago in 2007. Despite being new on the block in a tough industry, CBS Films has successfully made noise in several markets with releases like, “Las Vegas,” “The Woman in Black,” and “The Back Up Plan.” They plan to continue making noise by releasing approximately 4-6 films a year by self-distributing in the US while their partners oversee global distribution. CBS Film’s commitment to managing the development, financing, production, and marketing of low budget, experimental, and quality motion pictures of various genres is what makes them unique as a middle ground in the industry. [1] [2] [3]

Key Executives

Wolfgang Hammer (Co-President) [b]

Terry Press (Co-President) [c]

Steven Friedlander
(Executive Vice President, Theatrical Distribution) [d]

Reid Sullivan
(Chief Financial Officer) [e]

Rik Toulon
(Executive Vice President & General Counsel) [f]

Maria Faillace
(Executive Vice President, Production) [g]

For more information about the Key Executives, click here [1].

Financials

CBS Films is not a publicly traded company; therefore, there is no financial information available. However, according to Box Office Mojo, one can understand that CBS Films has the potential to be competitive among the major film companies in the future if it continues its current pattern.

CBS Films – Rankings
Courtesy of Box Office Mojo [h]

The studio got off to a rough start with its first project, “Extraordinary Measures.” The film had a production budget of $31 million dollars, and unfortunately led the company to a major loss since the film’s worldwide total gross was only $15,134,293. Fortunately, the studio’s second film “The Back Up Plan,” was a huge success, and produced a worldwide total gross of $77,477,007. With a $35 million dollar production budget, “The Back Up Plan,” was not only able to recoup the film’s production budget, but also was able to recoup “Extraordinary Measures” major loss all while still making the company roughly $26 million in profit.

“Las Vegas” Total Lifetime Grosses
Courtesy of Box Office Mojo [i]

To date, every film that CBS Films has distributed has made some profit besides “Extraordinary Measures.” In fact, the company’s most successful film to date “Las Vegas” proves that CBS Films is moving forward. “Las Vegas” had a production budget of $28 million dollars, and earned a worldwide total gross of $134,402,450 (see photo right). These observations allow one to assume that the company is comfortable financially. [4] [5] [6]

News

Clif Prowse (R), Derek Lee (L)
Courtesy of www.images.moviepilot-cdn.com [j]

CBS Film’s “Afflicted,” which was released on April 4, 2014, is currently playing in limited theaters and is available on demand at iTunes, Amazon, VUDU, Google Play, Time Warner, and XBOX in addition to other Video On Demand services. As of April 11, 2014, “Afflicted” is being shown in 34 theaters, which is down ten theaters from its original release date. According to Box Office Mojo, as of April 13, 2014, the film has earned a domestic total of $121,179. The Canadian Film Lottery and the hundred thousand dollars Co-Directors Derek Lee and Cliff Prowse devoted their time to raising funded “Afflicted.” To save on production costs further, the Co-Directors starred as themselves in the movie out of necessity, and they complied their friends, families, and relatives to be the actors as a pay-free route to ensure their budget was kept low.

Derek Lee (L), Clif Prowse (R)
Courtesy of www.laimyours.com [k]

Remarkably, Derek and Cliff have been friends since they were 15 and pimpled-faced. They started this found-footage horror film project in 2011 after working on 4 shorts together. The idea for the film was the result of what they thought would best display their skillsets. Originally, they envisioned creating an action film; however, they lacked the funding to do so with quality. As a plan B, the duo created what evolved into the vampire point of view documentary in theaters today. With only four filmmakers and a small crew of ten, scenes were shot guerilla style in Paris, Italy, and Spain using a Cannon 5D Mark II and a Go Pro. The Director of Photography was equipped with only a single lighting pack due to budget; therefore, natural lighting was forcibly essential. Budget, however, did allow for Visual Effects Company Imagine Engine to be brought on as a producer to ensure the scenes requiring special effects were brought to life. These scenes demanded an abundance of patience and luck to achieve a realistic effect since the scenes lacked certain resources that typically would have been needed.

Derek Lee as Derek Lee
Courtesy of www.images.moviepilot-cdn.com [l]

After years of hard work and obstacles, “Afflicted” was screened to distributors. A low seven figures and additional money for improving production later, CBS Films attained a deal with the duo to polish and complete the film. With CBS Film’s support, the film became commercial and competitive after a month of reshooting. “Afflicted” started to gain real momentum after being well received at the Toronto International Film Festival and Austin’s Fantastic Fest. In Toronto, “Afflicted” was awarded “Best Canadian First Feature Film,” and in Austin, the movie was awarded “Best Picture (Horror),” “Best Screenplay (Horror)”, and “Best Director (Horror).” In addition, according to IndieWire, “Afflicted” is on the Top 10 indies to watch On Demand for April. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Derek Lee as Derek Lee
Courtesy of CBS Films [m]

Brief Synopsis: Derek and Cliff, two best friends, set out to travel the world for a year, but to their surprise the trip goes terribly wrong after Derek spends a night with a beautiful woman. After Derek’s encounter with this woman, his body goes though inhuman and uncontrollable changes. Cliff was originally documenting the entire trip for his travel blog, but the footage ends up capturing how the trip takes a dark turn instead. [12]

Watch Afflicted Trailer [n] (YouTube)

CBS Films is keeping an eye on the films that receive major buzz from festivals; there is talk that CBS Films might have plans to continue pursuing deals like this in the future if it “Afflicted” proves to be a beneficial investment. The power of this buzz serves as free advertising and generates a strong word of mouth presence that is typically not the easiest achieve. [8]

Coming Soon

“The F Word” recently retitled “What If” will hit US theaters in August 2014. In September, “What If” made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival. Two and a half million dollars later, CBS Films attained the US rights for this project. “What If” will be released on August 1^st in NY and LA theaters, and will be accompanied by Disney’s “Guardians Of The Galaxy” and James Brown’s “Get Up On It.” CBS Films plans to expand markets for “What If” following the first weekend. [13]

Zoe Kazan (L), Daniel Radcliffe (R)
Courtesy of CBS Films [o]

Director:
Michael Dowse

Writer:
Elan Mastai

Stars:
Daniel Radcliffe
Zoe Kazan
Adam Driver
Mackenzie Davis
Megan Park
Oona Chaplin

Producers:
David Gross
Jesse Shapira
Jeff Arkuss
Macdara Kelleher
Andre Rouleau

[14]

Sources:

[1] CBS Films – About, cbsfilms.com, RT: 4/13/14

[2] Company Overview – Bloomberg Businessweek, investing.businessweek.com, RT: 4/13/14

[3] LA Times – Prime time for CBS movie bet?, articles.latimes.com, Claudia Eller & Amy Kaufman,1/11/10, RT: 4/13/14

[4] Box Office Mojo – “Extraordinary Measures”, boxofficemojo.com, RT: 4/13/14

[5] Box Office Mojo – “The Back Up Plan”, boxofficemojo.com, RT: 4/13/14

[6] Box Office Mojo – “Las Vegas”, boxofficemojo.com, RT: 4/13/14

[7] The Horror: Afflicted LA Premiere At Hollywood Horrorfest, laimyours.com, Jonatha Bilski, 3/31/14, RT: 4/13/14

[8] Fantastic Fest: CBS Films May Have a Sleeper Hit in Low-Budget Horror Movie ‘Afflicted’, thewrap.com, Jeff Sneider, 9/20/13, RT: 4/13/14

[9] The Hollywood Reporter – Afflicted: Film Review, hollywoodreporter.com, Frank Scheck, 4/3/2014, RT: 4/13/14

[10] The 10 Indies to Watch on VOD This April: ‘Joe,’ ‘Blue Ruin,’ ‘Filth’ and More, indiewire.com, 4/2/14, RT: 4/13/14

[11] IMDb Page for Film “Afflicted”, IMDb.com, RT: 4/13/14

[12] CBS Films – Afflicted, cbsfilms.com, RT: 4/13/14

[13] Daniel Radcliffe’s ‘The F Word’ Re-titled ‘What If,’ Set for Aug. 1 Release, variety.com, Dave McNary, 3/14/14, RT: 4/13/14

[14] CBS Films – What If, cbsfims.com, RT: 4/13/14

Multimedia Sources:

[a] CBS Film’s Logo, cbsfilms.com, RT: 4/13/14

[b] Photo of Wolfgang Hammer, 5dinstitute.org, RT: 4/13/14

[c] Photo of Terry Press, hollywoodreporter.com, RT: 4/13/14

[d] Photo of Steven Friedlander, pokerpages.com, RT: 4/13/14

[e] Photo of Reid Sullivan, cbsexpress.com, RT: 4/13/14

[f] Photo of Rik Toulon, cbsexpress.com, RT: 4/13/14

[g] Photo of Maria Faillace, hollywoodreporter.com, RT: 4/13/14

[h] CBS Films – Rankings, boxofficemojo.com, RT: 4/13/14

[i] “Las Vegas” Total Lifetime Grosses, boxofficemojo.com, RT: 4/13/14

[j] Photo 1 of Co-Directors, images.moviepilot-cdn.com, RT: 4/13/14

[k] Photo 2 of Co-Directors, laimyours.com, RT: 4/13/14

[l] Photo 1 of Derek Lee, images.moviepilot-cdn.com, RT: 4/13/14

[m] Photo 2 of Derek Lee, cbsfilms.com, RT: 4/13/14

[n] Afflicted Trailer, youtube.com, RT: 4/13/14

[o] Photo of Zoe and Daniel, cbsfilms.com, RT: 4/13/14

20th Century Fox

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Zhihao He

By Jackie He

Photo courtesy of interpretllc.com

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

10201 West Pico Boulevard,

Los Angeles, California 90035

Website: http://www.foxmovies.com/

History

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, commonly known as 20th Century Fox is one of the six major American film studios. The company was founded on May 31, 1935, as the result of the merger of Fox Film Corporation, and Twentieth Century Pictures. The studio used to be a subsidiary of News Corporation, but now it is currently a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox. The studio is widely involved in film business but mainly focusing on film production and distribution. It has released numerous successful blockbusters including Star War series and Titanic. [1][2][9]

Recent Finance

In the first quarter of 2014 which covers months of January, February and March, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation released 8 films including Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Son of God, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and etc, bringing in a gross income of $210.6 million. This is an 18% decrease comparing to the gross income the company earned in the first quarter of 2013. [3]

Rupert Murdoch

Photo courtesy of battellemedia.com

Mr. Keith Rupert Murdoch is the founder of News Corporation. Since June 28, 2013, Murdoch has been Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., the former News Corporation and the parent company of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. He serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. [4]

Recent News

“86th Oscar Best picture: 12 Years A Slave.”

12 Years A Slave Official Trailer

12 Years A Slave Winning Best Picture

Photo courtesy of euroasianews.com

12 Years A Slave, a film released by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation in october 2013, not only won Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay in 86th Academy Awards, but also become the first film made by a black director or producer to receive the Academy’s highest honor —Best Picture. The film tells a story about a New York State-born free African American man who was abducted in Washington, D.C. in 1841. He was sold into slavery and worked on plantations in the state of Louisiana for twelve years before released. [5][19]

Photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

This award winning film was also prominent in box office. With the production budget of $18 million, it earned $56,390,478 in domestic box office and remarkable $121,745,968 in foreign box office since its international release dates were largely delayed to early 2014 in order to take advantage of the attention created by awards seasons. [6]

Son of God

Son of God Official Trailer

On February 28, 2014, Twentieth Century Fox films released its new film Son of God, starring Diogo Morgado, Roma Downey and Darwin Shaw. Instead of focusing on Jesus’ arrest, torture and death, “Son of God” takes us through Jesus’ life from its humble beginnings in the barn, to the gathering of his followers, his march to Jerusalem, and all of the miracles he performed along the way. [7]

Photo courtesy of yeshacallahan.com

On a budget of $22 million, the film brought in $26.5 million in box office revenue in domestic theaters at the end of the first week and has earned $58,058,843 total gross till today, more than twice of its budget. Although the film is successful in the box office, it receipted many negative critiques about its quality. On Rotten Tomatoes for instance, it currently holds a 22% rating based on 59 reviews with the consensus: “The faithful may find their spirits raised, but on purely cinematic terms, Son of God is too dull and heavy-handed to spark much fervor.” [8][10]

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Mr. Peabody & Sherman Official Trailer

Approximately one year after the release of “The Croods”, 20th Century Fox Film teamed up with DreamWorks Animation for the second time in the production and distribution of the animation movie, Mr. Peabody & Sherman. The film premiered on February 7, 2014 in the United Kingdom,and was released on March 7, 2014 in the United States. [11]

Photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

With the budget of $145 million, the film earned $8 million on its opening day in North America theaters. And by of April 15, 2014, Mr. Peabody & Sherman has grossed $105,465,969. in North America, and 143,100,000 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $248,565,969. [12]

The film was obviously welcomed by the public. On Rotten Tomatoes, it received a score of 79% based on reviews from 100 critics, with an average rating of 6.7/10, giving it “Certified Fresh” status. Most viewers reached a consensus stating that “Mr. Peabody & Sherman offers a surprisingly entertaining burst of colorful all-ages fun, despite of its dated source material and rather convoluted plot.” [13]

Rio 2

Rio 2 Official Trailer

Rio 2, the sequel of the 2011 computer-animated film Rio produced by 20th Century Fox Film Corporation’s animation subsidiary Blue Sky Studio, was released internationally on March 20, 2014, and domestically on April 11, 2014. The story leads us to the rain forest of Amazon where our bird protagonists Blu, Jewel and their three kids started a new adventure. As Blu tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful Nigel, and meets the most fearsome adversary – his father-in-law. [14][15]

Photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

All the favorable stars presenting their voice in Rio including Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway and Jamie Foxx came back to the sequel, and are joined by Oscar nominee Andy Garcia, Grammy winner Bruno Mars, Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth and Oscar/Emmy/Tony winner Rita Moreno which makes the movie a great hit. On its opening day, the film earned $12 million in North American theaters, and in its first weekend, it opened to number two behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with the gross revenue of $39,327,869. Till April 18, the film has already earned $186,363,000 worldwide. [15][16]

Photo courtsey of dualshockers.com

To promote the film, three of four Angry Birds Rio episodes — all visually tied to Rio 2 have been released by Rovio Entertainment before the premiere of the film, widely attracting smart phone users and game players to buy the movie ticket. [14]

What’s up next

20^thCentury Fox plans to release the next sequel of X-Man – “X-Man: Days of Future Past” In the film, the ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods. All our favorite characters from the original “X-Men” film trilogy join forces with their younger selves and started an epic battle that must change the past to save our future. [17]

: Photo Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org; As usual, the new sequel of X-man has a strong cast including Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, etc. To attract the lucrative Chinese Market, the film also includes Fan Bingbing in the cast, one of the most popular Chinese actresses. The film will be released on May 23, 2014. [18]; Photo Courtesy of www.jaynestars.com; X-Men: Days of Future Past Official Trailer

Sources:

[1] http://www.thestudiotour.com/fox/chronology.shtml [Ret: 15 Apr. 2013]

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Fox [Ret: 15 Apr. 2013]

[3] http://boxofficemojo.com/studio/chart/?view=company&view2=ytd&compare=Q1&studio=fox.htm [Ret: 15 Apr. 2013]

[4] http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/people.asp?privcapId=35867 [Ret: 15 Apr. 2013]

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Years_a_Slave_(film)#Release [Ret: 15 Apr. 2013]

[6] http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=twelveyearsaslave.htm [Ret: 15 Apr. 2013]

[7] http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/son-of-god-2014 [Ret: 15 Apr. 2013]

[8] http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=sonofgod.htm [Ret: 15 Apr. 2013]

[9]http://www.21cf.com/Business_Segments/Filmed_Entertainment_Businesses/Twentieth_Century_Fox/ [Ret: 15 Apr. 2013]

[10] http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/son_of_god_2014/ [Ret: 16 Apr. 2013]

[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Peabody_%26_Sherman [Ret: 16 Apr. 2013]

[12] http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mrpeabodyandsherman.htm [Ret: 16 Apr. 2013]

[13] http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_peabody_and_sherman/ [Ret: 16 Apr. 2013]

[14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_2 [Ret: 19 Apr. 2013]

[15] http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rio_2/ [Ret: 19 Apr. 2013]

[16] http://boxofficemojo.com/search/?q=rio%202 [Ret: 19 Apr. 2013]

[17] http://www.x-menmovies.com/ [Ret: 19 Apr. 2013]

[18] http://comicsalliance.com/x-men-days-of-future-past-movie-empire-25-covers/ [Ret: 19 Apr. 2013]

[19] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2024544/?ref_=nv_sr_1[Ret: 19 Apr. 2013]

Spotify

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Hannah Friedland

By Hannah D Friedland

[1] Spotify’s Logo

THE SPOTIFY STORY:

[6] The most updated visuals of the Spotify application on thee platforms

[2] The most updated visuals of the Spotify application on thee platforms. Users have an on-demand stream of music on their computer, mobile device, tablet, and home entertainment system.

Spotify is a music streaming service that puts users in control of 20 million licensed songs [3]. Spotify was launched in Sweden in 2008 and came to America in 2011.

Spotify is financially a private company that offers over 20,000 new songs each day from major and independent labels including EMI, Warner Music Group, Universal, & The Orchard [3]. Artists earn royalty when their music is played, and there are over 24 million active users currently in 55 markets [3].

There are two revenue streams, free, which is “powered by advertisers” and premium for $9.99 monthly with extra features including no ads, offline, and high-quality audio [3].

TEAM SPOTIFY:

[2] Spotify Founders- Daniel Ek & Martin Lorentzon

[4] Spotify Founders- Daniel Ek & Martin Lorentzon

[5] Chief Sales, Marketing, and International Growth Officer- Jeff Levick

[5] Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA- Ken Parks

[6] Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA- Ken Parks

[7] Head of Content- Steve Savoca

INSIDE SPOTIFY:

Social Media Merges with Music- Songs, playlists, and albums can be shared on the Spotify application through the "Send To" message option, or users can "post to feed" to their Facebook timeline, Twitter, and Tumblr within the Spotify application. ARROW

Social Media Merges with Music- Using the “send to”, or “post to feed” options users can message music to friends and post music to their Facebook timeline, Twitter, and Tumblr within the Spotify application. Source: Spotify

Spotify gives its users the option to connect with their social media Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr accounts. Users can create collaborative playlists, share music, view friends music and more which provides for ample music discovery and publicity for the company on social media platforms. There is also a private session users can activate.

Two other elements that Spotify includes are apps and Discover. While these apps add dimension to the Spotify journey, Discover is essentially a constantly updated news feed.

Discover- Spotify's "news feed" feature on the desktop application, artists are recommended, concerts nearby are posted, friends listening habits are shown all based on listening habits the user has shown. Source: Spotify

Discover- Spotify’s “news feed” feature on the desktop application. Updates with releases, playlists, artists recommendations, concerts nearby are posted, friends listening habits are shown all based on listening habits the user has shown. Source: Spotify

COMPETITORS:

Spotify is a strong contender, but it’s competing neck and neck with Rdio, Pandora, Rhapsody, Google Play Music, and Beats on price, catalogue, platforms, and features [8]. Beats Music entered the competitive on-demand music market in January [9], and is Spotify’s biggest challenger.

[10] Beats Music vs. Spotify- The two streaming services are extremely similar with the same catalogue size, the discovery element, and price.

Beats entry in the market put Spotify in “go-mode”.

SPOTIFY’S SITUATION:

Competitor streaming services are continually emerging. With more choices presented to consumers, Spotify has responded by shifting their focus to partnerships, acquisitions, customer satisfaction, and updated product development. The formula is to attract users to Spotify, engage with users, and retain them.

Partnerships

Last.fm

Last.fm is a music recommendation service. In January, Spotify and Last.fm teamed up to bring a beneficial on-demand playbar to Last.fm’s website. This makes it possible for Last.fm users to internally play the entire Spotify catalogue on Last.fm’s website [11].

The collaboration works in both companies favor. Last.fm users have a fuller experience with the power, “to play whatever you want by whoever you want directly on Last.fm” [12]. In addition, Spotify’s catalogue incorporation provides a huge presence and Last.fm users conveniently have motivation to signup for Spotify to take advantage of the essential music player.

The Last.Fm Spotify playbar at the bottom of Last.Fm’s website. Source: Lastfm.com

SoundHound

Spotify also joined forces with SoundHound for the “Add to spotify” feature on its iOS application in February. SoundHound is a popular music-recognition app, similar to Shazam. Banded together, SoundHound is now more interactive. After linking accounts, with the tap of a button users can automatically generate Spotify playlists of recognized songs without leaving SoundHound’s app [13].

Hitting the “Add to Spotify” button automatically turns songs discovered on SoundHound into a Spotify playlist. Source: SoundHound & Spotify

The mutually-beneficial relationship brings life to identified songs through Spotify playlists on SoundHoud, and the incentive to use the button will drive users to subscribe to Spotify while giving them presence on a music app [14].

Coachella

On top of that, Spotify was presented with an amazing opportunity to have presence on site at Coachella as the Official Digital Music Partner of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in California in April. The Spotify Social tent was an on-site air-conditioned tent that offered relaxation pods, chargers, a “Mosaic Photo Booth” that uses your Spotify account to generate a picture out of your most played album art, and art from artist Apex [15].

[16] The Spotify Social tent, that capped at 150, gave people an air conditioning experience filled with music, more battery power, art, and a Mosaic Photobooth that puts your face on album covers based on your Spotify listening habits.

#WeWereThere was Spotify’s digital interactive strategy at Coachella to “connect, collect, share.” Implanted in every RFID wristband was the power to capture the experience by checking in and collecting custom Spotify curated playlists. The “My Coachella Story” digital snapshot let individuals create memories of their festival concert experiences with playlists gathered [16]. This collaboration not only transformed Coachella goers into premium users, but also created a special experience and built relationships by reliving the festival on Spotify.

[15] “My Coachella Story”- an example of a digital snapshot that shoes distance traveled, the path taken, playlists, artists seen etc. To participate users needed to simply connect their wrist band with their Spotify accounts, look for check ins at the festival, use the wristband to collect playlists and then after generate their digital card and share it with family and friends.

Sprint

Lastly, Beats launched with an AT&T package family plan deal. Rumors are circulating about Spotify planning to bundle with the #3 U.S. mobile carrier, Sprint [17] in April. This partnership will give Sprint customers a free trial. Customers will be able to pay for Spotify directly through their Sprint Accounts, which will help Spotify secure a greater market share and Sprint secure more data plans. Sprint and Spotify will announce the details on April 29th at a New York Event [18].

Acquisitions

In efforts to boost the “discovery” element, Spotify acquired The Echo Nest in March [19]. The Echo Nest is a music intelligence company that examines listening behavior and makes musical recommendations. Spotify paid $100 Million, with 90% Spotify equity [20]. The Echo Nest previously powered Rdio and Rhapsody, both of which ended their deals, deeming its technology invaluable to their operations right after Spotify acquired [21]. This potentially puts Spotify in the position to take The Echo Nest away from competitors.

Combing the two companies gives The Echo Nest a bigger audience and catalog, while Spotify, now with music-discovery data, will improve recommendation’s.

Customer Satisfaction

With intentions to obtain more paying users Spotify has updated its business model. In January the company announced free music shuffling on iOS with a catch, non-premium users ads play in between every few tracks [22]. In February, Spotify added the “repeat one” feature [23]. Repeat one grants users the option to repeat a single track over and over [24]. These highly requested changes illustrate that Spotify cares about users.

Working with a college students budget, Spotify slashed the premium $9.99 monthly rate to $4.99 in March [25]. They partnered with SheerID to validate eligibility. This price change is valuable because college students represent an important key demographic in streaming use [26]. This differentiates Spotify from other streaming services like Rdio and Beats that charge $10 monthly.

Unique Product Development

Competition among streaming services leads Spotify to completely redesign its user interface layout on all platforms. Spotify rolled out a sleek modernized look on April 2^nd. This major design update was the first since its launch in 2008, and to keep current it was a smart move [27].

Spotify’s New Look Video [28]

The new dramatic, dark color scheme highlights important buttons, includes circular images for people, and features square album shapes [29]. The browse tab is revised and categorized between top lists, releases, news, and moods. “Your Music”, a collection of users saved albums, songs, and artists is a new addition [30]. The Your Music addition mimics iTunes library and it is comparable to Rdio’s “collection” feature. It helps users save, organize, and browse through their favorite music. The new layout feels unified and balanced, and should attract new users [31].

WHATS NEXT FOR SPOTIFY:

Spotify is headed in the right direction, but with downloads declining, new rival services like YouTube, Apple, and Amazon that have huge user bases are joining the streaming market [32].

Being active puts Spotify in the forefront, which looks great for Investors. It is rumored that an IPO is in Spotify’s near future. Though the company has declined all comments, a job advertisement for an “External Reporting Specialist” has been posted on their website and LinkedIn [33]. Their future looks competitive but successful.

Sources:

1. Spotify’s Logo 2014, Spotifypress.com, RT: 4/04/2014

2. Spotify’s Application on Three Platforms, Spotifyblog.com, RT: 4/01/2014

3. Spotify Press Fast Facts, Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

4.The Founders of Spotify, Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

5.Spotify’s Chief Sales, Marketing, and International Growth Officer, Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

6. Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA,Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

7. Head of Content, Press.Spotify.com, RT: 4/01/2014

8. “And The Winner Is… Best Music On-Demand Streaming Service”, Cultofmac.com, 2/18/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

9. “Beats Music Is Here”, Beats Music Blog 1/16/2014, RT: 4/08/2014

10. “Beats Music vs. Spotify: Can Dr. Dre outmix the king of streaming”, Digital Trends, 1/27/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

11. “Last.fm Bands up with Spotify to offer on-demand tracks”, CNET, 1/29/2014, RT: 4/04/2014

12. “Did Someone Say On Demand?”, Last.fm Blog, 1/29/2014, RT: 4/04/2014

13. “SoundHound Launched “Add to Spotify”, Business Wire, 2/21/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

14. “SoundHound Now Lets You Easily Add Your Discovered Music to Your Spotify Playlist”, appdevice.com, 2/24/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

15. “Coachella here we come” Spotify News, 4/7/2014 RT: 4/14/2014

16. “Spotify’s Coachella #WeWereThere Campaign: High Tech and Sweet, Sweet Air Conditioning”, Billboard, 4/11/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

17. “Sprint and Spotify Plan to Partner Up”, recode.net, 4/11/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

18. “Spotify, Sprint Plan Music Bundle To Be Unveiled This Month”, Billboard, 4/12/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

19.“Spotify Acquires the Echo Nest”, Billboard, 3/06/2014, RT: 4/02/2014

20. “Spotify Acquired Music Tech Company The Echo Nest in A $100M Deal” , TechCrunch, 3/07/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

21. “Rhapsody Kills its Echo Nest partnership following Spotify acquisition”, Venturebeat.com, 3/21/2014, RT: 4/09/2014

22. “Spotify’s free shuffle mode arrives on iPhone”, The Verge,1/08/2014, RT: 4/02/2014

23. “Repeat One”, Spotify News Blog, 2/07/2014, RT: 4/08/2014

24. “Spotify users can now repeat the same song over and over and over again”, Hypbot, 2/10/2014, : 4/02/2014

25. “Spotify Offers 50% Student Discount”, Hypbot, 3/25/2014, RT: 4/02/2014

26. “Spotify introduces 50% discount for college students”, Los Angles Times, 3/25/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

27. “The Good, The Bad, The Less Ugly: Taking Spotify’s New Redesign For a Test Drive”, Billboard, 4/03/2014, RT: 4/04/2014

28. Spotify Paints It Black with New Look, YouTube, 4/01/2014, RT: 4/06/2014

29. “Spotify’s biggest redesign ever brings long awaited Collection view”, The Verge, 4/02/2014, RT: 4/07/2014

30. “Spotify paints it black with new look”, Spotify News, 4/02/2014, RT: 4/08/2014

31. “Spotify beautifies”, CNET, 4/02/2014 RT: 4/08/2014

32. “Spotify faces challenge from Internet giants before IPO” New York Post, 3/30/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

33. “Spotify seeks to hire U.S. filings expert as bankers eye IPO” Reuters, 2/17/2014, RT: 4/14/2014

Rdio

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Karly Brecher

By Karly Brecher

Rdio, Inc.
1550 Bryant Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Phone: 415-763-7211
Website: Rdio.com

Company Overview

Rdio is a privately-owned online music streaming service. Skype founders, Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström launched the company in 2010. Rdio is now available in over 35 countries. The service is ad-supported but users can opt for an ad-less subscription for $9.99 per month. Rdio can be accessed via the internet, desktop client, mobile app, and some in-home entertainment services (ex: Roku, Sonos.) [1] [2]

Key Executives [3]

Anthony Bay, Chief Operating Officer

Niklas Zennström, Founder

Janus Friis, Founder

Scott Bagby, Head of Strategic and International Partnerships

Finances

Rdio is a privately owned company and does not disclose their financial information online. Assumptions about the company’s financial well-being can be concluded from news published online. Rdio laid off approximately 35 employees (1/3 of the staff) this past November. A spokesperson for the company said the offs were in order to create a more efficient cost structure and to promote a sustainable business model. This insinuated that Rdio’s finances were weak. However, in March of 2014, Spotify acquired Dhingana, an India-based music streaming service for an undisclosed amount. This indicates that Rdio is trying to expand and must be doing better financially. [4] [5]

Competitors

Paying subscribers of top streaming services. Image courtesy of Digital Music News.

Rdio is not the only streaming service fighting for domination in the United States, in fact, their market share is very small compared to competitors (but, their numbers are still growing.) Rdio has many domestic and international competitors. The graph to the left shows the number of paying users for a variety of streaming services. Rdio has less than one million paying subscribers, however, this does not include “freemium” users. These numbers can far surpass the amount of paying subscribers. Rdio’s data is not public but for a comparison, Spotify has over 6 million paying users (as of November 2013) and over 24 million total users. The “freemium” accounts are ad-supported and subsidize artist royalties. Rdio’s main competitors in the United States include Spotify, Pandora, Beats Music, Slacker, and Sirius XM [6] [7] [8]

Shazam Partnership

In 2012, Shazam, a music recognition service, partnered with Rdio to allow users to listen to Shazam’d tracks via Rdio . However, this partnership was only available in select countries. In late 2013, Rdio and Shazam announced the expansion of this service to over 29 territories including Ecuador, Guatemala, Hungary, Austria, Sweden, and many more. It is important to note the significance of this expansion because the Rdio/Shazam service is now available in countries where competitors like Spotify are not (including Canada, Chile, and Czech Republic.) [9] [10]

Mobile Integration

Tesla Motor’s in-dash touchscreen display

As streaming services become increasingly popular, more services are emerging and fighting for domination in the market (think iTunes owns the digital download market). This creates more competition between the services and they are scrambling for ways to gain users. Streaming services have been partnering with cell phone providers to increase their customer base. Beats Music partnered with AT&T for a discounted family price and Spotify announced a partnership with Sprint. However, Rdio is going a different route. After being turned down by Spotify, American car company, Tesla, announced a partnership with Rdio in Europe . Gigaom reports “…consumers will be able to play any song from Rdio’s catalog of 20 million or so with a simple voice command,” the service will be integrated in the car’s dashboard system. Tesla CEO, Elon Musk says the service will be available very soon. It is unknown whether or not Tesla will use Rdio as their default music service in the US market. Tesla currently has a partnership with Slacker Radio in the US territory. [11] [12]

Above is a photo of Tesla Motor’s in-dash touchscreen display. The Rdio client in the in-dash display will likely mirror the iPad application. This will ensure a positive and easy user experience.

Dhingana Acquisition

The Rdio lay-offs in late 2013 indicated that the company was struggling financially. However, it seems that the streaming service is doing better because they had sufficient funds (although we do not know the exact number) to purchase the Indian music streaming service: Dhingana.

Dhingana was founded in 2007 by brothers Snehal & Swapnil Schinde, and Sushil Choudhari. Dhingana primarily streams genres of Indian music boasting a catalog of over one million songs in 42 languages. Dhingana has other Indian competitors including Saavn and Gaana. Dhingana has approximately 10.5 million monthly users; the acquisition will add significant traction to Rdio’s numbers.

Smartphone sales growth.
Image courtesy of The Guardian.

Dhingana announced the acquisition on March 14, 2014 via their website and shut down the service. According to the press release, the Dhingana team will be working with Rdio to launch the service later this year. Rdio CEO, Anthony Bay, was quoted in Billboard Magazine, “India is a tremendously vibrant market for music and culture and one of the largest and most important in the world,” Bay’s strategy seems to be to expand their service in emerging markets, like India . Part of the Schinde brothers and Mr. Choudhari’s initiative at Rdio will be to expand into other emerging foreign markets.

This acquisition was a brilliant move on Rdio’s part. Recently The Guardian reported that India will pass the United States in smartphone sales this year, “India will be the country where the largest proportion of smartphones sold will go to new users,” this creates a larger market for potential streaming users. The map above shows significant smartphone growth in Brazil, Indonesia, and China; it will be interesting to see what territories Rdio will expand to next. [5] [13] [14]

Rdio Drops The Echo Nest

The Echo Nest is a music intelligence company that provides data to a variety of music industry entities. All of the competitors mentioned above (with the exception of Beats Music) use The Echo Nest to power music recommendation features on their platform. In March, Spotify announced that they acquired The Echo Nest. Following this, Rdio announced they will no longer use The Echo Nest’s service. Anthony Bay was quoted by The Verge saying: “As far as we are concerned, they were a good partner, but we have other good partners and we’ll move on… So we will stop using that source of data and use other sources.” . Rdio’s decision to unsubscribe to The Echo Nest can pan out to be either a unique, positive change to the service or, depending on the service they choose to work with, can damage the company’s reputation. [15]

Sources:

[1] Rdio | About Us RT: April 1, 2014

[2] Rdio | Apps RT: April 1, 2014

[3] Crunch Base | Executive information RT: April 1, 2014

[4] Tech Crunch | Rdio Layoffs RT: April 4, 2014

[5] Billboard | Rdio acquires Dhingana RT: April 4, 2014

[6] Digital Music News | Paid subscription numbers RT: April 4, 2014

[7] Investopedia | Definition of “Freemium” RT: April 15, 2014

[8] Spotify | Fast Facts RT: April 8, 2014

[9] Android Central | Rdio and Shazam Partnership RT: April 8, 2014

[10] Make Use Of | Rdio vs Spotify availability RT: April 8, 2014

[11] Giagaom | Rdio partners with Tesla Motors RT: April 3, 2014

[12] Techspot | Rdio Tesla Motors Partnership RT: April 3, 2014

[13] Dhingana | Acquisition press release RT: April 4, 2014

[14] The Guardian | Smartphone growth RT: April 4, 2014

[15] The Verge | Rdio drops The Echo Nest RT: April 15, 2014

NewsCorp/21st Century – Fox

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Deanna Saltzman

By Deanna Saltzman

Corporate Background History:

On May 24, 2013, the board of directors of NewsCorp (former parent company of the mega media company originally known as 20^th Century Fox), announced a split between its troubled publishing divisions and its entertainment media divisions. The schism was approved by shareholders in June, and the divisions were redubbed News Corporation and 21^st Century Fox, respectively. 21^st Century Fox remained in the control of Rupert Murdoch (original NewsCorp founder), who now holds the titles of Chairman and Chief Executive. [1]

Company Holdings:

21^st Century Fox television is comprised of an array of cable and broadcast programming. Cable networks include YES network, Fox New Channel, Fox Business Network, National Geographic, Fox Sports 1 & 2, and FX Networks. Broadcast holdings include Fox Broadcasting Network, Fox Sports, MyNetworkTV, as well as owned and operated stations within Fox Television Stations Group. [2]

With shows such as “American Idol”, “New Girl”, and “The Simpsons”, Fox Broadcasting Network “dominates” the adult 18-24 demographic. The “top-rated” Fox Sports broadcasts exclusive NFL, MLB, UFC, and NASCAR packages. Fox Sports Network is the leading provider of local sports, with 22 owned-an-operated networks for regional distribution of MLB, NHL, and collegiate sports.

On cable news, Fox News Channel reigns as the most-watched news channel for 11 years. In quality cable television, FX Networks features many hit series including “Sons of Anarchy”, “Louie”, and “American Horror Story”.

Key Executives:

Rupert Murdoch. Source: http://www.nndb.com

Rupert Murdoch is Chairman and CEO of both 21^st Century Fox and its former parent company, NewsCorp. He has overseen the corporation’s development as an international entertainment company.

Chase Carey serves as President and COO.

James Murdoch is Co-Chief Operating Officer, supervising global television assets.

John Nallen is the Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

David Hill serves as Senior Executive Vice President, specializing in programming and digital developments.

Gary Newman and Dana Walden both serve as Chairmen of the Twentieth Century Fox Television division, which produces highly-rated TV content.

Peter Rice serves as Chairman & CEO of the Fox Networks Group division, supervising Fox Broadcasting Company,FX Networks, and Fox Sports Media Group (O&O’s).

More on Key Executives. [3]

Financials:

The most recent earnings release from the second quarter, reported on February 6, 2014, shows an $8.16 billion in revenue for Q2, which is a 15% increase from the prior year quarter. The increase reflects growth in Fox’s DBS international holdings as well as growth in Cable Network Programming and affiliate revenue growth. Broadcast Television reported a 6% increase in revenue from the previous year as a result of growing retransmission earnings. However, operating income has declined due to investments in developing networks such as FXX. [4]

This Google Finance [5] graph shows a slight decrease of $1.69 (-7.06% change) in stock price from the previous year, but a general trend of stability for the January-April period.

21st Century Fox Stock Price 2013-2014. Source: Google Finance

21st Century Fox Television In The News:

“Fargo”. FX. Source: Heavy.com Entertainment

FX recently launched a new mini-series, “Fargo”, based on the Coen brothers’ classic 1996 film. Noah Harley (“My Generation”, “Bones”) is series creator, and his pilot script won over series producers Joel and Ethan Coen. The series follows Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman)–our familiar, bumbling, and insecure insurance agent character–and his catalytic bad influence, Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton), who plays the devil-on-the-shoulder-role by advising Lester to stand up for himself. When that advice gets taken a bit too literally, our moralistic yet ineffectual friends at the Bemidji, Minnesota Police Department get on the case. [6]

The premier was a success with the help of three showings, raking in 4.15 million viewers, 1 million of those in the key 18-49 demo. FX is also optimistic about time-shifting growth from DVR use for boosting their key demo ratings. [7]

Jack is back on “24: Live Another Day” on Fox.

Fox broadcasting will also premier a 12-episode reprisal of the hit series “24”, now reincarnated as “24: Live Another Day”. The multi-Emmy-award-winning team of the legendary series returns with Executive Producer Howard Gordon, lead actor and Executive Producer Kiefer Sutherland, and co-creator Robert Cochran. This time, Jack Bauer works as an “exile from justice” attempting to thwart world-threatening terrorist activities. The series is set to premiere on Fox at 9:00PM on May 5th. [8]

Watch: “24: Live Another Day” Fox Trailer

When “24” last aired in 2010, the audience had declined from a peak of 13 million down to 9 million. With a heavy promo campaign of on-air and online teaser trailers, Fox hopes to reignite its primetime hit to former glory with dedicated audiences. [9]

“The Americans”. Source: Hollywood Reporter, courtesy of FX.

FX is also renewing “The Americans” for a 3rd season. Although it’s ratings have not been up to the same standard as other FX originals such as “American Horror Story”, there is still hope for the critically acclaimed spy thriller by means of DVR time-shifting–which has been shown to boost the show’s key demo viewership by 81% in the past. [10]

Source: SeriesNews.Biz

Fox has been revamping its summer broadcast schedule with new series such as “I Wanna Marry Harry” (a reality Bachelorette-esque show competing for British Royalty’s heart), Steve Carell’s “Riot” (celebrity game show), a trifecta from Gordon Ramsay (“Kitchen Nightmares”, “Master Chef”, “Hotel Hell”), and the new scripted drama “Gang Related” and original sitcom “Surviving Jack”. The scripted newbies hope to get a programming tipoff following “American Idol’s” primetime spot. Likewise, “Riot” will follow the series finale of “Glee”. Full schedule here. [11] [12]

Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of “The Cosmos”. Source: Variety.

Fox also premiered “The Cosmos” this March on its Fox broadcasting channel as well as 9 other cable networks: National Geographic Channel, FX, FXX, FXM, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo and FOX Life. The series premiered with a sizable audience of 8.5 million, evan against steep competition from AMC’s “The Walking Dead” in its primetime 9:00PM Sunday slot. The bulk of these viewers were from broadcast, with the demo under age 50 being comprised of 60% men. [13]

Rupert Murdoch and sons, James and Lachlan. Source: Variety.

In corporate news, Rupert Murdoch’s sons, James and Lachlan Murdoch, have each been promoted to new key roles. James is now serving as co-COO in cooperation with COO Chase Carey. He supervises global assets and oversees Fox Networks Group. (Accordingly, Peter Rice will now report to James Murdoch as opposed to Chase Carey). Lachlan serves as non-exec co-chairman of 21st Century Fox, developing “overall corporate strategy”. All promotional news released to press as of 3/26/2014. [14]

YES Network Logo. Source: www.web.yesnetwork.com

In Fox sports news, 21CF increased its stake in YES network from 49% to 80% in the interest of expanding its global/regional sports portfolio. This makes YES Network an official “consolidated entity” of 21CF, although Yankee Global Enterprises will retain the other 20% and Tracy Dolgin will keep his CEO role. [15]

American Idol Ratings Slump. Source: Variety.

Unfortunately, Fox’s ratings for “American Idol” have been dropping off, finishing fourth for 6 consecutive weeks among competing broadcasting networks. Reportedly, the ratings decrease has also been hurting ad sales. Nielsen’s ratings show a 30% decline from last year, although Fox hopes future programming such as the “24” premiere will help. [16] [17]

Looking Ahead:

With a strong revamp in broadcast and cable for this coming season, 21CF may likely be able to cover losses from falling ad sales and investments in developing networks.

Word Count (captions & headers included): 1253

Sources:

[1] News Corp shareholders vote to split company into two. BBC News. Accessed 4/9/2014.

[2] 21st Century Fox Business Units. 21st Century Fox. Accessed 4/9/2014.

[3] 21st Century Fox Management. 21st Century Fox. Accessed 4/9/2014.

[4] 21st Century Fox Past Earnings Releases. 21st Century Fox. Accessed 4/9/2014.

[5] 21st Century Fox Google Finance Chart. Google Finance. Accessed 4/17/2014.

[6] Fargo TV Review. Hollywood Reporter. Accessed 4/17/2014.

[7] TV Ratings for FX’s “Fargo” Delivers. Hollywood Reporter. Accessed 4/17/2014.

[8] 24: Live Another Day. Fox. Accessed 4/9/2014.

[9] Fox Cancels “24” TV Show, Move Version is Next. Reuters. Accessed 4/9/2014.

[10] “Americans” Renewed Third Season at FX. Hollywood Reporter. Accessed 4/17/2014.

[11] Fox Counts Down Premiere Dates for 24: Live Another Day, Gang Related, and Surviving Jack. TV.com. Accessed 4/17/2014.

[12] Fox Sets Launch for Faux Prince Harry Dating Series, Shifts ‘Gang Related’. Hollywood Reporter. Accessed 4/17/2014.

[13] ‘Cosmos’ Premiere Draws 8.5 Million Viewers on Fox Networks. Variety. Accessed 4/9/2014.

[14] Murdoch Shuffle: Lachlan Returns to Fox, News Corp.; James Upped to Co-COO. Variety. Accessed 4/9/2014.

[15] Fox To Acquire Majority Stake In Yankees’ YES Network. Variety. Accessed 4/9/2014.

[16] Does ‘American Idol’ Ebb Mean Music’s Over for Fox? Variety. Accessed 4/9/2014.

[17] American Idol to ‘wind down’, 21st Century Fox chief reveals. The Guardian. Accessed 4/9/2014.

Discovery Communications

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Parker Davis

By Parker Davis

Discovery Communications Logo- image courtesy of givingtuesday.org

Overview [1] [2]

TLC Logo- image courtesy of businessinsider.com

John Hendricks originally founded Discovery Communications under the name Appalachian Community Service Network in 1982. The first station launched was The Learning Channel, an educational station for youths and adults alike. When the company changed its name to Discovery Communications in 1985, other education based channels were established such as the Discovery Channel and the first 24/7 HD basic cable channel, Discovery HD, currently known as Velocity [1]. Today, Discovery Communications is the world’s #1 subscription based television network, reaching over 2 billion subscribers in 220 countries. They own over 200 television stations including: the Science Channel, Animal Planet, and OWN. Outside of television, Discovery Communications is also a large publisher of educational books and operates online media channels such as Revision3 and howstuffworks.com [2].

Executives [3]

John S. Hendricks- image courtesy of corporate.discovery.com

John S. Hendricks: Founder and Chairman Discovery Communications

David M. Zaslav- image courtesy of corporate.discovery.com

David M. Zaslav: President and CEO Discovery Communications

Jean Briac Perette- image courtesy of corporate.discovery.com

Jean Briac (JB) Perette: President Discovery Networks International

Financials [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Discovery Communications is publicly traded under three stock series: DISCA, DISCB, and DISCK. Each ticker symbol translates to series A, B, and C stock. The newer issuances indicate a new corporate milestone, thus returning a higher company valuation number, resulting in a higher IPO for the new distribution of shares. DISCA contains the most shareholders. Within the previous three months, DISCA prices ranged from $76.80 to $85.97. Currently, it is recovering from its lowest point in the period, occurring April 15, 2014, and slowly increased 1.7% to $77.83 on April 18 [4].

Comparison of DISCA, DISCB, DISCK over a three month period- courtesy bloomberg.com

Comparison of DISCA, DISCB, DISCK- image courtesy of bloomberg.com

In the Annual Financial Statement for 2013, total revenue equated to $5.54 billion. A 19% increase over 2012, which generated $4.49 billion, a mere 8% increase over 2011 [5]. This growth is credited in their recent “acquisition of the majority stake in Eurosport International will drive international to contributing more than 50 percent of total company revenue” [6]. Discovery Communications possesses only 1% of total market share, competing alongside other media conglomerates such as: A&E, NBCUniversal, and Viacom [7] [8].

Retirement and the Curiosity Project [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

John S. Hendricks- image courtesy of curiosityretreats.com

Discovery founder and chairman, John Hendricks, officially announced his retirement in March. He will formally resign during the annual shareholder’s meeting on May 16; however, he has not released who will take his place as chairman. Although, sources speculate that current CEO, David Zaslav, may be a potential candidate for the position [9]. In his retirement letter to the board of directors, Hendricks explained that he will “spend the next few years traveling the planet and discovering the questions and mysteries that intrigue us all.” He will also use the opportunity to expand his new business, Curiosity Project LLC, announced February 10 of this year [10].

The mission of Curiosity Retreats is to create a unique forum where the lifelong curious can gather to explore in-depth the great questions of today. [11]

Curiosity Video Overview (Vimeo)

One currently operational aspect of the project is retreats for inspirational and open- minded thinkers alike. The retreats are five nights long at the Gateway Canyons resort in Colorado, including a panel of 8 different experts in the field of: science, technology, civilization, and human spirit [12]. The purpose of the retreat is to enlighten already intellectual minds and expand their imagination by collaborating and with others.

Gateway Canyons- image courtesy of multivu.com

The new aspect of Hendricks’ venture is video on demand. His plan is to compile recordings of the experts from the retreats and publish their talks online for an annual fee of $19.99. However, this venture may prove impractical because there are already free services similar to his found in university publications and intellectual websites, such as TED [13].

Hendricks founded Discovery in 1982 and stepped down as CEO in 2004 and began his role as chairman on the board of directors. He was with the company for 32 years [14].

Eurosport [15] [16] [17]

Eurosport Logo- image courtesy of 3.bp.blogspot.com

Discovery Communications is expanding its international affiliations by moving into the televised sports market. On January 21, Discovery purchased controlling share (51%) in Eurosport for $1.2 billion [15]. Since April 2013, Discovery owned 20% stake in the station. The extension was made in a monetary agreement with TF1, a French television network and previous majority owner of Eurosport. The purpose of Discovery’s equity increase is to compete with British Sky Broadcasting and BT, a UK cable provider, for exclusive Premier League television rights [16]. Discovery chose to expand its control over sporting networks so it can combine its international sports rights with its US based stations to avoid competing head on with domestic sporting networks. The new international acquisitions expand Discovery’s network portfolio, thus inflating revenue and control over the total media market [17].

DogTV [18] [19] [20]

DogTV Logo- image courtesy of dogtv.com

Discovery Communications has recently purchased an unspecified percentage of DogTV: a 2 year old network that targets the dog owner demographic and airs content specifically for pet entertainment. The station is distributed through DirecTV and has a subscription fee of $5 for television viewing and $10 for online streaming [17]. Current programming on the network includes 3-6 minute clips focused on a dog’s relaxation, stimulation, and exposure. Discovery Communications has developed a strategic partnership with DogTV, jointly creating similar programming for Animal Planet while spreading the reach of the network to other countries. This tactic by Discovery can be seen as a gamble to invest in television for dogs, however, over 43.3 million US households own at least one dog, collectively spending over $55.8 billion annually on pet products, and over half of which claim their dogs show interest in what occurs on television [18]. The channel is designed to relieve the stress and anxiety of stay at home pets [19].

DogTV in The News (YouTube)

New Form [21] [22] [23]

Left to Right: Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, David Zaslav- image courtesy variety.com

Discovery has co-founded and launched a new digital media site, New Form, alongside producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer [21]. The purpose of the studio is to infiltrate the scripted media market, whereas Discovery contains mainly non-fiction and reality based content. In the startup, the firm appointed Kathleen Grace, former Head of Creative Development for YouTube Space LA, as the Chief Creative Officer for New Form [22]. The videos created will be used in conjunction with current Discovery Digital Networks rather than creating a new site from the ground up. The venture was also announced the same week as Discovery’s upfront presentations to entice advertisers about the concept. Today, media advertisers divide their capital between television and online mediums, serving as a potentially dramatic advertisement revenue increase for Discovery. Zaslav is making the push for Discovery to move into the Internet realm to make their channels easily accessible on all platforms for anyone to use [23].

Interview with David Zaslav and Ron Howard on New Form (Bloomberg)

Works Cited:

[1] Discovery Communications Founder John Hendricks to Retire as Chairman of Company’s Board. Discovery Communications. March 20, 2014. RT: April 13, 2014.

[2] Overview & Mission. Discovery Communications. RT: April 13, 2014.

[3] Leadership. Discovery Communications. RT: April 13, 2014.

[4] Google Finance Data. Google. RT: April 15, 2014.

[5] 2013 Annual Report. Discovery Communications. RT: April 15, 2014.

[6] Discovery CEO touts International Growth, Outlook. The Hollywood Reporter. Georg Szalai. April 3, 2014. RT: April 15, 2014.

[7] Introduction to the Entertainment & Media Industry. Plunkett Research, Ltd. RT: April 15, 2014. Used to calculate total market share.

[8] Top Competitors for Discovery Communications, Inc.. Hoovers. RT: April 15, 2014

[9] Discovery Communications Chairman John Hendricks stepping down. Los Angeles Times. Joe Flint. March, 20 2014. RT: April 17, 2014.

[10] John Hendricks Retirement Letter. John S. Hendricks. March 20, 2014. RT: April 17, 2014.

[11] Curiosity Mission Statement. Curiosity Retreats. RT: April 17, 2014.

[12] Curiosity About Page. Curiosity Retreats. RT: April 17, 2014.

[13] Discovery chairman John Hendricks to step down to pursue lifelong learning academy. Washington Post. Dan Beyers. March 23, 2014. RT: April 17, 2014.

[14] Cable Pioneer John Hendricks to Retire From Discovery Communications. Variety. Cynthia Littleton. March 20, 2014. RT: April 17, 2014.

[15] Discovery Takes Controlling Stake in Eurosport. New York Times. David Gelles. January 21, 2014. RT: April 17, 2014.

[16] Eurosport owner Discovery considering Premier League TV rights bid. The Guardian. Mark Sweney. January 24, 2014. RT: April 17, 2014

[17] Discovery to Take Control of Eurosport International. The Hollywood Reporter. Georg Szalai. January 21, 2014. RT: April 17, 2014

[18] Discovery Acquires Stake in DogTV, a Network Aimed at Canine Viewers. Variety. Todd Spangler. April 8, 2014. RT:April 18, 2014.

[19] Discovery Wants Your Dog To Watch More TV. Bloomberg Businessweek. Kyle Stock. April 8, 2014. RT: April 18, 2014.

[20] Discovery Buys Stake In A TV Channel For Dogs. Huffington Post. Bill Bradley. April 11, 2014. RT: April 18, 2014.

[21] Discovery teams with Howard, Grazer for online shows. USA Today. Roger Yu. April 3, 2014. RT: April 18, 2014.

[22] Brian Grazer, Ron Howard Launch ‘New Form’ Digital Studio With Discovery. The Hollywood Reporter. Natalie Jarvey. April 2, 2014. RT: April 18, 2014.

[23] Howard, Grazer to team with Discovery on Web shows. New York Post. Claire Atkinson. April 2, 2014. RT: April 18, 2014.

AMC Networks

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Tyler Cunningham

By Tyler Cunningham


courtesy of [1] hitstate.com

AMC Network Entertainment LLC

11 Penn Plaza – New York, NY 10001 – (646)-273-7105

HISTORY + ABOUT:

Upon its launch in 1980, AMC Networks was originally known as Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision. After 25 years of successful programming and mergers, Cablevision executives took Rainbow Media public on July 1st, 2011 under its new name, AMC Network Entertainment. [2]

courtesy of [3] imgl.wikia.nocookie.net

Now in its third year as a publicly traded company, AMC Networks owns and operates some of today’s most popular cable channels including AMC, Sundance TV, WE tv and IFC. Additionally, the company owns the independent film distributor, IFC Films, as well as the IFC Center cinema in Greenwich Village. [4] AMC Networks has a commitment to producing only the most distinctive and compelling content that engages many different audiences.

KEY EXECUTIVES:

[5]

Charles F. Dolan – Executive Chairman

[5]

Joshua W. Sapan – President & CEO

[5]

Edward A. Carroll – COO

[5]

Sean E. Sullivan – Executive VP & CFO

FINANCIALS AS OF SPRING 2014:

AMC Networks has not yet reported its First Quarter earnings for 2014, however it recently reported its Fourth Quarter & Full-Year Earnings for 2013.

The Fourth Quarter saw a net revenue increase of 18.7% to $435 million, up from $395 million in the company’s Third Quarter report. [6] And what’s more is that 2013 saw an annual net revenue increase of 17.7% to $1.592 billion, up from $1.353 billion in 2012.These increases, according to CEO Joshua Sapan, can be entirely attributed to the company’s “ability to produce content that is valuable and monetizeable.” [7]

courtesy of [8] nasdaq.com

The company is publicly traded as AMCX on NASDAQ and has seen an especially successful Spring 2014. As seen in this graph that documents AMCX’s share price since going public in 2011, the price has been at an all-time high since the beginning of 2014, hitting $78.39 per share on March 7th. This is up from $59.18 on the same day in 2013.

RECENT HAPPENINGS:

AMC’s The Walking Dead Continues its Ratings Reign –

courtesy of [9] beyondhollywood.com

Even in the face of the XXII Winter Olympics, The Walking Dead‘s mid-season premiere on February 9th still garnered 16 million viewers and maintained its position as the highest-rated program on all of television in the key 18-49 demographic. [10] The zombie apocalypse drama’s popularity is commonly attributed to its incredibly tense storytelling and excellent character development. The Walking Dead will return for its fifth season this October.

Chellomedia is Offically Acquried for $1 Billion –

courtesy of [11] chellomediapaytv.com

After a lengthy courting process, AMC Networks purchased the London-based Chellomedia for $1 billion this spring. Chellomedia is a European television content distributor that owns and operates a massive collection of channels that reach an estimated 390 million homes across Europe. AMC Networks reportedly made the acquisition to broaden their European audience. [12] With net earnings of $465 million in 2013, Chellomedia is expected to now make up 20% of AMC Networks’ earnings. [13]

Final Season of Mad Men Opens to Lackluster Ratings –

courtesy of [16]

There’s no denying that Mad Men is one of the most critically-acclaimed shows in recent history, but when it comes to ratings, AMC wins some and they lose some. The seventh and final season of Mad Men premiered on April 13th to just 2.3 million viewers – their lowest premiere rating since the show’s second season in 2008. [14] Media analysts suspect that recycled, overused plot lines in season six (Don was predictably unfaithful, etc.) are to blame for the loss of public interest. [15]

New Drama, Turn, Premieres to Lukewarm Reviews –

AMC was hoping to add to its collection of hit dramas with the new Revolutionary War espionage thriller, Turn. However, it is looking unlikely that they will be able to do so. The series premiere on April 6th opened to a modest 2.1 million viewers (only .5 of them in the 18-49 demographic) and a bag of mixed reviews. [17] While some publications celebrated its arresting cinematography and stellar performances [18], most have labeled the show as “hollow,” with very little suspense or excitement to be found in its storytelling. [19] Turn – Trailer (YouTube)

UPCOMING PROJECTS:

Tech Drama, Halt and Catch Fire, to Premiere June 1st –

With Breaking Bad put to rest and Mad Men not far behind, “the question of ‘what’s next’ looms large for AMC.” [20] And many who attended the SXSW sneak peak of Halt and Catch Fire argue that the new series has what it takes to be the network’s next big smash. [21] The 1980s period drama tells the story of three techies with dreams of creating a more perfect personal computer that has the potential of replacing the most popular IBM model. The show’s riveting storytelling explores the multiple motives, burned bridges and egos involved in the fight to weaken IBM as the dominant player in the marketplace. The aptly titled series is slated for a June 1st premiere. Halt and Catch Fire – Trailer (YouTube)

courtesy of [25] amctv.com

Breaking Bad spinoff, Better Call Saul, to Premiere in November –

Diehard Breaking Bad fans were given reason to live again after a spinoff series, Better Call Saul, was announced following the show’s wrap. The show will center around Bob Odenkirk’s character, Saul Goodman, Albuquerque’s favorite crooked lawyer, and is named after the character’s hopelessly corny business slogan. The show will not be “Breaking Bad 2.0,” but rather a dive into the smattering of trouble and hilarity that ensues as a result of Saul’s shady business practices. [22] Better Call Saul – Webisode (YouTube)

courtesy of [26] leviathyn.com

Dark Comic Series, Preacher, to be Adapted for Television –

After many failed starts with other production companies, the 1990s comic book series, Preacher, will receive its first major television treatment from AMC. Preacher tells the story of Jesse Custer, a Texas preacher who becomes possessed by a supernatural entity that is half-angel, half-demon, making Custer the most powerful creature on Earth. Through his possession, he discovers that God has abandoned his responsibilities in Heaven and is now roaming freely on Earth. A preacher to his core, Custer sets out on a journey to track down God and send him back to his post. However, there are many demonic forces that will stop at nothing to keep this preacher from reaching God. The Seth Rogan-produced religious thriller is hoped to bring success similar to that of The Walking Dead. [23] A release date has not yet been set.

courtesy of [24] empireonline.com

SOURCES:

Lionsgate Entertainment

Key Executives

Financials

Right Here, Right Now

Coming Up

Sources:

Multimedia Sources

Brief History

Key Executives

Financials

News

Coming Soon

Sources:

Multimedia Sources:

AMC Network Entertainment LLC

11 Penn Plaza – New York, NY 10001 – (646)-273-7105

[1] – HitState, RT: 4/16/2014

[2] – Deadline, RT: 4/16/2014

[3] – imgl.wikia.nocookie, RT: 4/16/2014

[4] – AMC Networks, RT: 4/16/2014

[5] – AMC Networks – Investors, RT: 4/17/2014

[6] – AMC Networks – Investors, RT: 4/17/2014

[7] – Seeking Alpha, RT: 4/17/2014

[8] – NASDAQ, RT: 4/17/2014

[9] – Beyond Hollywood, RT: 4/17/2014

[10] – Seeking Alpha, RT: 4/18/2014

[11] – Chellomedia, RT: 4/18/2014

[12] – The Hollywood Reporter, RT: 4/18/2014

[13] – Seeking Alpha, RT: 4/18/2014

[14] – E! Online, RT: 4/18/2014

[15] – Indiewire, RT: 4/18/2014

[16] – SquareSpace, RT: 4/18/2014

[17] – Vulture, RT: 4/18/2014

[18] – The Daily Beast, RT: 4/19/2014

[19] – Variety, RT: 4/19/2014

[20] – Forbes, RT: 4/19/2014

[21] – Indiewire, RT: 4/19/2014

[22] – Screenrant, RT: 4/19/2014

[23] – The Hollywood Reporter, RT: 4/19/2014

[24] – Empire, RT: 4/19/2014

[25] – AMC TV, RT: 4/19/2014

[26] – Leviathyn, RT: 4/19/2014