The Town with Matthew Belloni

Latest Episodes:

Winners and Losers of NBC Axing an Hour of Prime-Time TV Aug 29, 2022

Show notes

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

Guest: Lucas Shaw

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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MoviePass CEO Stacy Spikes On Reinventing Moviegoing (Again) Aug 26, 2022

Show notes

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

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David Zaslav Doesn’t Care About Your Favorite HBO Shows Aug 24, 2022

Show notes

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: Julia Alexander

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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The 2022 Showrunner Draft Aug 22, 2022

Show notes

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: Lucas Shaw

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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The Wackiest CEO in Entertainment Aug 18, 2022

Show notes

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

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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The Lawsuit Striking Fear Into Fox News (Plus 'LOTR' Predictions) Aug 17, 2022

Show notes

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 harmed, and a new era in libel cases. Later, Matt gives a prediction after seeing the first two episodes of Amazon’s new show ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.’

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Eriq Garnder

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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Should Disney Sell ESPN? Aug 16, 2022

Show notes

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: Devon Renaldo

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Disney+ and the Streaming Price Hike Aug 11, 2022

Show notes

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, Hulu as a potential secret weapon for Disney, what Microsoft could actually bring to Netflix, and more.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Jessica Reif Ehrlich

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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TikTok’s Dominance and Hollywood’s Place in the Creator Economy Aug 10, 2022

Show notes

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 like.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Taylor Lorenz

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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Springsteen and the Scourge of Concert Ticket Pricing Aug 08, 2022

Show notes

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: Devon Renaldo

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