The Town with Matthew Belloni

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss how much money streaming services should spend on movies that skip a theatrical release and go directly to their streaming platform. They speculate over a streaming service’s return on investment for for a $200 million movie and question whether that business model is sustainable. Sign up for Matt’s Hollywood newsletter at 20% off HERE Email us c...

Matt is joined by The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis to discuss the recent conference realignment in college football—where television ratings reign supreme and storied traditions are rapidly disappearing—and whether this new normal is sustainable in a consolidating college football television universe. Sign up for Matt’s Hollywood newsletter at 20% off HERE  Email us comments, questions, or ideas at theto...

Matt and Craig recap the 2022 Emmy Awards as well as Matt’s experience from inside the event and the after-parties. They give out their own awards for the winner of the night, the biggest snub, and the best and worst moment of the night, discuss who has the brightest future after Monday night's results, and more. Host: Matt Belloni Producer: Craig Horlbeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit p...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw to discuss the current standing of Bob Chapek after the latest D23 Expo, which featured several announcements including new movie trailers, released footage, theme park updates, and new projects on the horizon at Disney.  Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Lucas Shaw Producer: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch...

Matt is joined by Forbes’ Scott Mendelson to judge their box office predictions for the most highly anticipated blockbusters of the summer. They discuss the surprise hits, flops, and everything in between, and provide takeaways for each franchise. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Scott Mendelson Produce: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/a...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Mark Bergen to discuss his newest book on YouTube’s path to domination over the past 20 years. They discuss whether Tiktok or any other digital platform can dethrone YouTube, the company's long and winding path to paying its creators, and its relationship with traditional Hollywood. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Mark Bergen Producer: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: Devon Renal...

Matt is joined by Deadline senior reporter Justin Kroll for Part 2 of the Young Hollywood Stock Exchange, where they buy or sell on the biggest stars under 30 in Hollywood. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Justin Kroll Producer: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Deadline senior reporter Justin Kroll to decide whether they are buying or selling the movie-star potential of the biggest actors under 30 years old in Hollywood. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Justin Kroll Producer: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by John Fithian, the CEO and president of the National Association of Theater Owners, to discuss the current state of the theater business, its messy relationship with movie studios, and what the next year looks like for moviegoing. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: John Fithian Producer: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adc...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss NBC considering eliminating their 10 p.m. programming slot and giving it back to the affiliates. Linear broadcast TV networks are in decline, but they still make a lot of money. However, most are owned by companies with streaming services that soak up all of the resources. So, what should happen to these broadcast networks? Host: Matt Belloni Gue...

Matt is joined by CEO and co-founder of MoviePass Stacy Spikes to talk about the upcoming relaunch of MoviePass—the disruptive movie subscription service phenomenon that swept the nation in the late 2010s. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Stacy Spikes Producer: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Julia Alexander from Parrot Analytics and Puck to discuss the vanishing of television shows on the HBO Max platform. They discuss Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s quest to save and make as much money as possible, what we can expect from HBO moving forward, and the expectation consumers hold for the content on their favorite streaming services. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: J...

In movies, the director is king. But in television, it's the showrunner. In the past 15 years we’ve seen the rise of the showrunner as perhaps the most important job in the industry. Today Matt and Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw participate in the very first showrunner draft. Each will draft five showrunners and a sleeper pick to dominate the industry over the next 15 years. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Luca...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Felix Gillette to discuss his latest piece on the antics of Hollywood’s most interesting CEO, Adam Aron. Aron is the CEO of AMC Entertainment and has turned his company into a meme-stock, investing in a literal goldmine, and will seemingly do whatever it takes to keep his theater business standing in a post-pandemic world. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Felix Gillette Prod...

Matt is joined by Puck’s legal expert, Eriq Gardner, to discuss Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit against Fox news, which states that Fox aired false, far-fetched, and exaggerated claims about Dominion and its supposed role in helping steal votes from Donald Trump. Matt and Eriq discuss whether Fox is protected by claiming it only repeated false claims from the president, how much Dominion was harm...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss ESPN’s value to Disney and whether Disney should explore shopping the worldwide leader in sports. Cord cutting and the shift to streaming threaten the financial value of ESPN for Disney—the subscriber base is going down and costs are going up. So should Disney sell ESPN? Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Lucas Shaw Producer: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: De...

Matt is joined by Jessica Reif Ehrlich, an analyst at B of A Securities, to break down the state of the streaming world after Disney's announcement that it will be raising the Disney+ subscription fee by 38 percent. They discuss whether streaming is becoming more like television, how viewers will tolerate an advertising tier, why Warner Bros. Discovery may be set up for success in the long term, H...

Matt is joined by Taylor Lorenz from The Washington Post to talk all things creator economy, including how influencers make money, Triller’s attempt to rival TikTok, what Hollywood can learn from the creator economy, whether influencers can cross over into movie stardom, what the representation business should look for an influencer, and what the next 10 years of the creator ecosystem will look li...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the demand-driven dynamic pricing system that recently set prices as high as $5,000 for Bruce Springsteen tickets. They get into the surge in concert ticket prices, the monopolistic control Live Nation has over the market, and how much responsibility the artist carries. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Lucas Shaw Producer: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: Dev...

Matt is joined by longtime media executive Tom Rogers to discuss the state of the streaming world, the future of the cable television ecosystem, who will create the ultimate bundle, which companies are here for the long haul, and where live sports fits in the equation. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Tom Rogers Producer: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...

Matt is joined by The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit to find an explanation for Warner Bros. Discovery's confounding decision to completely kill the release of the upcoming DC film ‘Batgirl’ and discuss the potential repercussions. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Borys Kit Producer: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw and The Ringer’s Juliet Litman to discuss Will Smith’s latest apology, which came in the form of a five-minute Q&A on YouTube. They talk about the sincerity of the apology, the handling of the aftermath of the Slap, and Apple’s looming decision about whether to release or delay Will Smith’s newest film, ‘Emancipation,’ which is set to come out later this ye...

Welcome to the second Town Hall! Matt and Craig field listener questions covering topics such as the likelihood of Steven Spielberg greenlighting legacy sequels, the future of the WWE after Vince McMahon, a potential WGA strike and the value of writers in Hollywood, how AMC A-List makes money, Apple TV+’s future, Ezra Miller and ‘The Flash’, Apple’s first animated film ‘Luck’, and more!   Host: Ma...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw for the first “IP draft.” Intellectual property rules Hollywood, so Matt and Lucas draft their way through what they believe is the most highly coveted IP in entertainment. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Lucas Shaw Producer: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by author Matthew Ball to discuss his new book on the Metaverse and how it will alter the future of the content and entertainment industry. Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Matthew Ball Producer: Craig Horlbeck Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices