It’s not the easiest of eras for broadcast TV networks, but it seems they may have found at least one magic tool to help them stay relevant as competition grows. If the latest Nielsen data is anything to go by, that’s the power of the franchise. Brandon Blake, the entertainment lawyer at Blake & Wang P.A, takes a look at the data.

Network Franchises and the Scripted Summer Hiatus

Going purely by Nielsen’s latest data, of the 20 most popular (scripted) series running at the moment, 12 were part of wider IP franchises. Up it to 13 if you want to argue Young Sheldon, once a Big Bang Theory spinoff, as another. There’s more to come, too, as ABC announces a Fall spinoff for The Rookie, too.

It’s the strongest possible indicator that broadcasters, at least, are hoping familiar storylines and beloved characters will be enough to entice viewers otherwise inundated with viewing choices on all sides. 

Analyzing the Stats

How is it fairing for them? Nielsen data suggests CBS comes out ahead of the pack, with 4.2M views on average. There’s quite a drop off to NBC (3.2M), ABC (2.8M), and Fox (2M). Surprisingly, smaller broadcasters like Telemundo managed to represent, although not to break the 1M viewers threshold. 

TNT came out ahead in the cable networks (likely due to the NBA playoffs) with 3.36M, followed by Fox at 2.2M and ESPN at a fraction over 2M. News-wise, ABC takes the lead, pulling in 7.5M viewers over the week period. NBC’s Nightly News managed 6.2M, and CBS’s Evening News 4.5M.

Overall, it’s clear that the beleaguered broadcast industry is sticking with ‘playing it safe’ in the scripted space and leveraging beloved IPs instead of trying to pull in new interest. While live sports and news continue to be massive drawcards, it’s otherwise a quiet environment with nothing daring being attempted to draw people away from streaming offerings.

In a deal that’s been teased since February, we’ve finally seen a formal announcement that UK-based telecom giant, BT Group, and Warner Bros Discover will be merging sports media units BT Sport and Eurosport in the UK and Ireland as a 50/0 joint venture. Blake & Wang P.A entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake, unpacks what we know.

HBO Content Falls Away

As we already expected, the existing content output funnel to the UK’s Pay-TV giant, Sky, will not continue, at least in its current form. While the merger is still a way off, we will instead see the combination of HBO Max with Discovery+ replace this in the British market.

The new venture, however, seeks to fit into the new entity’s push to enter different markets. WBD has been positioning itself as a ‘multi-product’, rather than a one-trick pony, in the streaming market for a while now.

The combination of two larger sports streaming entities in the UK will give it a powerful corner of the market to play with, too.

Existing Subscriber Swop-Over

Those who already access BT Sport as part of their wider BT packages will receive Discovery+ in its stead, with both live and on-demand sports streaming on offer. Both entities will funnel their existing sports rights and distribution agreements to the new entity, while WBD will assume direct command of BT Sport’s operating businesses. BT will net $114 million (£93 million) from WBD, as well as an approximate earn-out of around $659 million (£540 million), although there are attached conditions. Likewise, BT retains a 50% interest in the joint venture. WBD receives a call option over that interest, however, to be exercised at specific points in the first four years.

It’s a pretty major shift in the UK’s live sports landscape, with the top leagues of English soccer, cricket, and rugby entering the scene. BT wishes to roll back focus to its telecommunications business, and BT Sport has underperformed for them to date. Meanwhile, WBD scores an interesting foothold on live sport in the key European destination. It will certainly be interesting to see how the scene develops from here.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is certainly a much-anticipated entry into both the Disney/Marvel catalog and the summer Box Office. Much anticipated as a three-pronged sequel, tying together loose ends from Loki and WandaVision as well as Spider-Man: No Way Home, it is anticipated as one of the biggest performers of the 2022 summer season. Blake & Wang P.A entertainment attorney, Brandon Blake, looks at its starting potential, and how it weighed against reality. 

Key Domestic Start

This will also be one of the widest rollouts of the post-pandemic era, with 4,400 domestic theaters hosting the film. With this in mind, a target of $160M to $180M was set for its domestic opening. It still managed to outperform the target, netting $185M domestically in its opening weekend. This catapults it to the second-best Box Office debut of the current era, with only Spider-Man: No Way Home to beat it. 

Weekend pre-sales for the U.S and Canada stood at $60M, placing it ahead of The Batman at the same point in its sales cycle. However, the bulk of these were for Thursday night, not the opening weekend, which does suggest a little frontloading. All the same, it’s an impressive achievement.

Chasing $300M Globally

How likely was it to achieve these targets? That heavily depends on how compelling it is among non-Marvel fans- to which the answer was, apparently, very. It was hoped that the addition of Wanda to the lineup, played by Elizabeth Olsen, could give it pulling power among younger women, a demographic often missed by the MCU titles. The return of Sam Raimi to the director’s chair was anticipated as another drawcard. 

Additionally, the film was hoping to add at least another $140M to its international openings. This was projected without a release in China and Russia. It’s also highly unlikely to gain much traction in the Middle East, with open LGBTQ elements in the film’s storyline.

And it has managed to deliver. Unlike domestic figures, which remained more-or-less in the target range, it has managed to pull another $262.4M internationally, giving it an impressive $450M opening weekend globally, and putting it in the spotlight as the second-highest global opening of the pandemic era to date. 

The American Film Market, set for November 1st through 6th this year, has confirmed that it will return to a fully in-person event. This welcome return to business as usual is a trend we will undoubtedly see accelerate for the remaining 2022 and 2023 seasons across the industry. Entertainment lawyer with Blake & Wang P.A, Brandon Blake, brings us the latest buzz.

Two Years Online

The AFM, produced by the Independent Film & Television Alliance, has spent two years digital due to pandemic interruptions. Traditionally housed at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel for the last three decades, it typically clocks over 7,000 industry professionals, and representatives from more than 70 countries. Something of a trade show for distribution and production deals in the indie environment, it also brings in over $1B in deals a year, so this is great news for the industry overall. It’s great to get back to normal.

Mounting Excitement

This will also be the 43rd year for the festival, and while there’s still a lot of the year to go before we get there, excitement over the in-person announcement has been felt already. The pandemic may not be completely old history just yet, but the absence of the in-person buzz through a variety of the top festivals and markets has been notable.

Many festivals have done their best to produce a comparable online experience, and we can’t fault their attempts to do the best with what was safe and available. But there’s something about the ability to network, connect, and share in person that makes the experience that much more visceral. If we see some interesting new integrations of technology into the in-person environment, so much the better.

It seems that in-person events are returning in force for the independent film industry, and we’re looking forward to celebrating the full festival experience at the AFM this year.

AT&T have reported significant subscriber growth for HBO Max in one of their last acts for the now officially spun-off Warner Media streaming platform this week. Entertainment lawyer at Blake & Wang P.A, Brandon Blake, has the news for us.

Last Report

As mentioned, this will be the last time we hear from AT&T regarding what once was WarnerMedia, as the long-anticipated merger with Discovery to form the brand new entity Warner Bros Discovery, has recently completed. Their Q2 earnings report will come to us from the new entity, of course.

What will be intriguing to many, however, is whether this might also be the last time we hear from HBO Max as a single entity. With the merger bringing both Discovery + and HBO Max into the fold, it has been announced that the two will merge, but no timeline has yet been given.

Three Million New Subscribers

HBO and HBO Max have a combined streaming subscription total of 76.8M as at the end of Q1 2022, a rise of 3M from the previous quarter. It’s also a 12.8M year-on-year increase. AT&T have always given us the ARPU, or average revenue per user, for domestic subscribers too. Here we see a 9c increase to $11.24 for the quarter.

It’s hard not to position this modest, but appreciable, growth against the news that Netflix suffered its first subscriber loss in over a decade in the same quarter. Coupled with a disappointing earnings report, this has seen its stock plunge, losing over a third of value and tanking $50B from its market cap last Wednesday. The highly obvious factors of increased competitors and pandemic recovery were blamed.

Things certainly seem to be looking up for the streamer, which has been fairly insignificant compared to competitors to date. Where to from here? It will be interesting to see if the promised merger with Discovery+ lives up to the market hype as the ‘next Disney+’ after all.

In news that’s not entirely unexpected after critical panning, we’ve seen a softer Box Office than anticipated for both Morbius and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Brandon Blake, entertainment lawyer and our industry insider from Blake & Wang P.A, takes a look at the figures.

Morbius Nosedives

Sadly, Morbius currently holds a record no superhero movie needs- one of the sharpest drop-offs from opening weekend we’ve seen in a long while. Dipping 74% lower than last weekend, it pulled in a meager $10.2M after its strong debut, bringing its ten-day total to $57.7M. This ‘outperforms’ even notorious Box Office dropouts like Batman v Superman, Hulk, and Fantastic Four. Only long-forgotten 1997 superhero offering, Steel, which dropped from an $800K-ish debut to a tiny $191K in weekend two, managed worse. 

So no, sadly. The somewhat buoyant idea that this movie would perform better with audiences than critics, propped up by a decent opening weekend, hasn’t panned out either. It’s hard not to see this one as a bust. The notion that every Spider Man villain needs their own spin-off movie, or that it can perform on Venom levels, is hopefully put to bed for good. 

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore Starts Soft Overseas

The newest in the Fantastic Beasts franchise has had a soft international start, too, though still managing $58M. Some of it can be written off to COVID closures in China, though a lot is also market boredom with once-loved franchises there, too. However, while Japanese markets performed equivalent to the previous franchise installment, takings were halved from the UK, too. Even the ever-nostalgic Millennials seem to finally be tiring of the same old wizardly battles.

Not that it was bad news for the Box Office overall. Despite these two flunking out of the class, we saw commendable enough performances from The Batman and The Lost City, which was expected to have sunk into obscurity by now. Add a decent showing from Sonic 2, a solid performance from Uncharted, and the still-present loom of Spider-Man: No Way Home to Sing 2’s continued strong presence and an oddly strong showing from R-rated zombie romp, X, and the news wasn’t bad for the Box Office overall. It might just be time to put a cap on the superhero farming until a worthy target presents itself.

With a sky-high opening weekend for Sonic the Hedgehog 2, are we finally seeing some signs that theatrical audiences will diversify into other markets than eager superhero fans? Family-friendly fare has long been a coveted box office property, and one needed for the wider Box Office recovery. Blake & Wang P.A entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake, looks at the facts. 

Strong Performer

Sonic was always going to be an attractive property to test the family market with. It’s a well-liked IP in general, and its predecessor shattered standing ‘video game movie’ records. It’s also pulled in decent reviews, including an A from Cinemascore. 

With a budget of only $110M, Sonic the Hedgehog 2  has already managed to tear down some records of its own, bringing in $71M already over its first Friday to Sunday weekend. It’s also one of very few child-centric properties to hit cinemas in recent months, with Disney opting to shuffle most of its Pixar releases directly to streaming. Its next significant challenger will be Lightyear, set to release in June. 

The First $200M Video Game Movie?

All of which gives it a solid chance of becoming the first video game movie to topple $200M. Why, however? Sonic 2 highlights a lack of the standard ‘IP exploitation, CGI characters, and Easter Eggs’ model video game spin-offs have followed previously. Instead, we see a decent child-aimed movie with less pandering to their nostalgic parents than we’ve seen before. Instead, it’s a solid attempt to be a stand-alone movie without disregarding the source material entirely. 

Of course, this is no grand cinematic masterpiece. But it is very good at being exactly what it needs to be to have life and vibrancy of its own. And it’s one of the first ‘new’ IP franchises for Paramount to truly be successful on its own merits. For a studio that was fast running out of gas in 2016, it’s a refreshing sight. 

Paramount, in fact, may be an odd little success of the post-pandemic landscape. With Sonic 2 buoying their bottom line, and a surprisingly successful revival for their Scream and Jackass IPs, as well as the original comedy The Lost City in the bag, they’ve managed to recreate themselves some relevancy few expected. That Sonic 2 also stands a great chance of pulling another key demographic- families- back to the cinema is a nice cherry on the top.

Upfronts are a changing landscape, with how we consume TV and film shifting rapidly throughout the industry. Now we see Sony Pictures Television team up with their sister-studio, the Game Show Network, for another industry first. Blake & Wang P.A entertainment lawyer, Brandon Blake, has the insider information.

A Shifting Landscape

We’ve already explored how live-event TV and game shows remain two of the most popular Linear TV offerings, with scripted and unscripted programming mostly retreating to the streaming space. This new announcement seems to reinforce that perspective. Both entities will be placing a renewed focus on how live viewing and ‘TV games’ allow for brand integration and buoyant viewer numbers despite the challenges offered by streaming popularity. 

This means we will see long-time genre staples like Jeopardy up in lights alongside new programming like the Sony marquee property The Good Doctor, entering off-network syndication from September this year. 

Active Linear TV

The entirety of the Game Show Network remains a high-penetration linear channel despite a growing digital presence, so it makes sense for Sony to leverage that for greater attention during Upfronts. It reports production growth of 32% over the 2020 benchmarks, bringing 350 hours of original programming to the table. Alongside Jeopardy; People Puzzler, a spin-off from People magazine’s notorious crossword puzzles, America Says, Master Minds and Chain Reaction all remain immensely popular properties. They also have newer trivia-based programming in the works to tease.

Sony itself is, of course, the home of Wheel of Fortune, King of Queens, S.W.A.T, and the ever-popular reruns of Seinfeld.

The stated aims of the partnership include fostering consistency and confidence in the networks for advertisers and viewers alike, and boosting their profiles as ‘reliable and trusted environments’ for advertisers to connect with consumers. 

It’s the first, but no doubt not the last, time we’ve seen a major industry player leverage their popular linear content to reassure and interest advertisers, so it will be interesting to see how advertisers respond to the change.

What if ‘winning’ the streaming game doesn’t lie in creating the largest channel, but in dominating how people consume streaming services? This is a question we could see Roku answer in the coming years. Entertainment lawyer Brandon Blake examines their stranglehold on the smart TV market.

A Risky Gamble

Roku entered the wider streaming market seven years ago, when digital distribution of entertainment content was still in its relative infancy. Instead of gambling only on their own channel, they instead provided an operating system that sought to tie together people’s existing hardware with the shift to digital through their set top boxes. Today, most people buy their products fully integrated on smart TVs, although they still have set top boxes on offer. 

Last year, they sold more smart TVs to U.S families than any competitor. As of the end of 2021, they have a 38% share domestically, and 31% share in Canada. They claim 51.2M active accounts, 14M of which came online in the last year. Roughly 58.7B hours of entertainment was watched through Roku devices in 2020.

Not bad for a brand that was unknown at launch.

Monopolizing the TV Space

Most of this was created through offering affordable smart TV sets, backward-compatible tech, and an easy-to-use UI instead of the latest, greatest features. This at a time when the American public were still only dabbling in the intimidating new streaming spaces and reluctant to spend much. It is still primarily their smart TV UI that drives the company bottom line, with other tech reaching only middling sales stats.

It’s certainly given them power in the streaming landscape despite owning no studio or content creation point of their own. Of course, they haven’t been bulletproof, as we saw in their messy negotiations with AT&T over HBO Max last year. However, they have an undeniable traction in the market, even getting away with some ad-sharing and revenue demands no other third-party host has managed to date. They have also been fairly successful in demanding that parts of their partners’ catalogs go to their (free) Roku Channel.

It’s an interesting side development in the streaming space, and one they continue to dominate. Could winning the streaming wars lie in not fighting them at all, but simply leveraging others? Blake & Wang P.A will certainly be interested to see how Roku develops over the next few years, as streaming becomes the dominant film and TV market player. 

In an interesting move, we have seen the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announce that it will introduce new requirements to force broadcasters to disclose foreign governmental interests on domestic airwaves. Brandon Blake, the entertainment lawyer at Blake & Wang P.A, breaks down what we know.

April 2021 Ruling

While it’s tempting to see the development as tied to wider political developments, it has in fact been afoot since April last year, simply rolling out now. Going forward, the new rules apply immediately to newer leasing agreements, and will need to be adopted within a half-year period for existing agreements. 

It will be a requirement that it is disclosed at the time of broadcast if a foreign government entity paid for the material to air, on both TV and radio. Direct, as well as indirect, airwave leasing is included. 

Greater Transparency

The stated aim is to introduce greater transparency to how, and when, foreign government-sponsored material is being broadcast. We’ve seen an overall upward wing in such programming of late, with Chinese and Russian material leading the charge. This is likely to be why the roll-out is being pressed into effect so abruptly. Growing concerns over the spreading of news via social media and digital platforms likely also played a role in the change.

While the wider political ramifications are not ours to contemplate, the move towards greater transparency in consumed programming, and the interests behind it, is likely to be met with general positivity. As the content boom brings us more and more ways to consume media, not always intended for simple enjoyment, it could represent a step in controlling the messages reaching our eyes. How well met it will be by the general public, however, remains to be seen.