☀️SHAZAM hits trouble, as CREED III tops previous pics in just 3 weekends
Inside PAR 2022 top exec compensation / MARCH MADNESS' big first 2 days / JLO gets co-star for new AMAZON pic from Matt & Ben
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on MONDAY March 20, 2023.
Where once again The Onion nails it, this time capturing the experience of watching MARCH MADNESS over the last 4 days.
Did it always have this many ads… or am I imposing my knowledge of the state of the March 2023 Ad market and Studio balance sheets onto it?
Either way - the ad overload is getting good exposure:
DAY 1 (Thurs): Total day average across the 4 networks: 8.4 Million
Peak viewership is in the 7p to 9p range, at just over 10 Million.
This was a smidge above 2022, and the highest day 1 since 2015.
As for CBS alone, viewership was in the 3 Mil to 3.5 Mil range in primetime.
DAY 2 (Fri): Fast Nielsen #s put the day at 9.3 Million
This would be the biggest opening Friday viewership ever if the # holds.
This includes viewing on the MARCH MADNESS streaming app.
ALSO: If Bob Bakish owes you $20 for betting against PRINCETON this weekend (Bob’s COLUMBIA roots run deep) - he’s good for it. Bakish made $32 Million in 2022, up from $20 Million in 2021.
The annual total PARAMOUNT median employee compensation (including benefits) in 2022 was $110k.
That’s just a little less than what Bakish makes every 2 weeks from his base $3.1 Million compensation alone.
More fun facts on PARAMOUNT executive & board compensation (and PAR’s new board member), plus what Bakish is due if he’s let go are down in THE MEDIA BIZ section below.
MEANWHILE: DISNEY management execs have reportedly been asked to find the job & expense cuts by next month according to Business Insider.
PLUS: WGA Negotiations begin today! Start your 6 week Strike clocks now…
REST IN PEACE: Goes out to Lance Reddick, who died at the age of 60 on Friday of what’s thought to be sudden, but natural causes.
HUZZAH: Rupert Murdoch has found love… for the 5th time, getting engaged to SF police chaplain Ann Lesely Smith over the weekend. The pair met in September, and the wedding will be late Summer if you’d like to clear your calendar now.
ALSO: You can now join a wait list to pay Zuck $12 a month to be ‘META Verfied’ in the US with a blue check mark as an individual on FB or IG (or $15 a month if you pay through the app, as META joins the list of Silicon Valley companies passing the APPLE App Store vig… onto you).
MEANWHILE: TIKTOK is expected to tell Congress that it has 150 Mil Monthly Active Users in the US as part of its visit to DC on Thursday.
That’s about the same as SNAPCHAT reported last month (albeit in North America, not just the US).
FACEBOOK has about 266 Million across US & CANADA (no number is broken out for IG).
IN THIS EDITION
The full weekend Box Office numbers breakdown, incl. Avatar not likely to catch Top Gun at the US box office.
Looks like Denzel and Anne Hathaway have found their next pics respectively.
Exec changes at ROKU Scripted.
A look inside compensation for top PAR execs, and more.
KUDOS: Goes out to the Wakeup Box Office crew, as 70% of you picked the ‘under $36 Million’ option for Shazam! this weekend, as it fell short of tracking by a margin.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
