This Week's Handful of Must-See Headlines

Streaming

FAST Popularity: Is Ad-Supported Television Cable’s Second Coming?
As more streamers embrace advertising and introduce advertising tiers to their subscriber services, a new type of streaming channel holds a lot of opportunity for an entertainment industry continuing to shift. Free, ad-supported television (or FAST) channels may be new to some in the streaming world, but their model is familiar. Channels like Tubi, Amazon’s Freevee, Pluto, and Roku, are live, linear, and contain a variety of options with unique content offerings. Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav sees the potential, saying that FAST channels offer “a unique opportunity to increase our addressable market.” As pay-TV cord cutting sits at 6 percent every year, this sector is growing rapidly. The model feels very similar to the days of early cable, where reruns and channel surfing were key parts of the viewing experience. Each FAST channel has a slightly different approach. Roku, which offers hundreds of channels and thousands of on demand titles, has found success leaning into younger audiences, and has even delved into the world of creating original content. Pluto, which is owned by Paramount Global, is still essentially a third-party service with over 400 sources of content. Jeff Shultz, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Business Development Officer, Streaming at Paramount Global, believes the key metric for FAST channels should always be engagement, so their platforms rely on an existing catalogue of content. For example, the channel owns the Judge Judy library, which has thousands of episodes and provides viewers with a lengthy stream of content. These networks don’t necessarily hope to become “Cable 2.0,” but it's hard to ignore the ways audiences are now flocking to internet streaming for linear television.

Television

TV Tunes: Big Name Composers Making Your Favorite Theme Songs
Nothing sticks a classic TV show in your mind for life like a catchy theme song or jingle (I’m looking at you, The Addams Family). In the earliest days of television, the melodic whistle of the theme song to The Andy Griffith Show echoed from ear to ear. Then Cheers came along, and suddenly everybody wanted to know each other’s names. More recently, Friends announced each rerun with a jangly chord that no one can mistake. We find ourselves in a television music renaissance, with shows like House of the Dragon, Only Murders in the Building, and Succession, building their own unique and indelible audio profiles. Nicholas Britell, who won an Emmy for his Succession theme, believes that is the TV theme song is truly art, saying that “Not every project needs one, but if it works, and there is the opportunity, it’s a way to bring the audience into the world of the show.” The composer, also behind themes for Yellowstone and 1883, believes we are in an era of creative and artistic freedom and unlimited options. Showrunners are a piece in this equation, as they are searching for a theme that is unique and will stand out in a crowded field of options. Composer Sherri Chung looks back as iconic 90s shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Seinfeld, which established musical themes that were “more of a musical thumbprint than a hummable melody.” While streaming is creating diverse catalogues, broadcast networks still look at intro music very differently. Back in the 90s, theme songs had to be very short to keep people from changing the channel. While streaming songs may be longer, these platforms still give viewers the opportunity to skip ahead into an episode. Even so, great themes generate cult followings. For example, the Game of Thrones theme became so popular that covers on YouTube have gone on to generate millions of views. With increased popularity, new eyes are on the creative artists generating these catchy pieces of music.

Film

Part of the Film Registry World: 25 Iconic Films Enter the Library of Congress
Every year, several films are selected for preservation by the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry. In 2022, history is being made with some firsts for the entertainment industry. The list of selected movies reflects American filmmaking, so movies of all sizes and genres are included. Almost 15 years after its release, Iron Man is the first Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film to enter the national registry. 1989’s animated Disney classic, The Little Mermaid has also entered the registry. Several notable comedies, such as John Waters’ Hairspray and the 1950 film Cyrano de Bergerac, have also been selected for preservation. This year, the registry is also acknowledging certain films that helped pave the way for modern cinema’s handling of LGBTQIA+ issues, including Behind Every Good Man (1967), a short film about gender fluidity, Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives (1977), a collective film by six queer filmmakers, Tongues United (1989), a video essay about Black gay men, and Pariah (2011), a film about a black teenager embracing her identity. Overall, 15 of the 25 films included were directed or co-directed by filmmakers of color, women, or LGBTQIA+ individuals. With these additions, the registry now contains 850 titles. To be included, a film must be at least 10 years old. All films are selected by head librarian Carla Hayden with help from the National Film Preservation Board (and public nominations). To celebrate these new additions, a televised special will air on TCM on December 27 featuring several of these titles as well as a conversation with Hayden and fellow film historian Jacqueline Stewart.

Movie Theater

Ready To Max Out Your AMC Credit Card?
AMC Theaters, owners of one of the largest theater chains in the world, is set to launch its own credit card in early 2023. The AMC Entertainment Visa Card will be a digital credit platform that lets members earn points for qualifying charges. With expected demand at very high levels, the card (in partnership with Visa and Deserve) will only be available to AMC Stubs members. “Until now, the theatrical exhibition industry is one of the few untapped major retail sectors that hasn’t offered consumers the opportunity to amplify their purchase power, accelerate their rewards, and demonstrate their loyalty through the use of a co-branded credit card,” said AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron. “With a built-in customer base of tens of millions of existing AMC Stubs members, we know there are avid moviegoers who will benefit greatly from using their AMC Entertainment Visa Card at the movies and for their everyday purchases.” AMC is very hopeful that the company’s millions of shareholders will find the idea appealing, and Aron claims the card was “certainly designed with them in mind.” If the card is anything like their Stubs program, it certainly sounds like it could be a great boon to the expanding company.

Awards

Golden Globe Nominations: More Inclusion or More of the Same?
The nominations are in. As the Hollywood Foreign Press Association continues their quest for increased representation and equity, this year’s list of nominees is drawing some cheers and some criticism. After a period of intense controversy, the HFPA released its newest list of nominees in acting, songwriting, film score, directing and writing to an eager public. The good news: representation is up from last year’s numbers. However, some critics took note of the fact that despite these increases, HFPA failed to nominate a single Black film with strong themes in the Best Picture category. Many are arguing that there were certainly a number of strong titles that could have been meaningful contenders, such as TriStar’s The Woman King, Orion’s Till, and Focus Features’ The Silent Twins. Meanwhile, the Asian community saw the biggest improvement, jumping from two nominees to nine. The Latino community lost one nomination spot since last year, dropping from nine to eight across film and television. Notably, the Best Actress and Actor Limited Series / TV Movie and Supporting Actor Limited Series / TV Movie categories saw zero nominees of a diverse background on this year’s list.

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