The Town with Matthew Belloni The Ringer

Matt is joined by Wall Street Journal reporter Isabella Simonetti to discuss an article she wrote that focuses on the older ages of television viewers and how it has affected advertisers (03:35). They go through how the pitches to ad buyers have shifted, the age gap between people who consume traditional linear TV and streaming, whether age demographics are still used, the growing acceptance of older casts on TV, and whether linear TV is beginning to age out. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the distribution of 'The Apprentice,' which highlights Donald Trump’s rise during his business career (19:50).

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Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Isabella Simonetti
Producer: Jessie Lopez
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
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Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the terrible Memorial Day box office weekend (02:36). They discuss the potential fallout from the disastrous weekend and the repercussions of May’s disappointing box office results, as well as debate whether studios will look to release fewer movies. Then, Matt finishes off the show with a prediction about Warner Bros. Discovery's NBA broadcasting rights (25:24).

For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click this link: puck.news/thetown
Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com

Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Lucas Shaw

Producer: Jessie Lopez
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
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Matt is joined by Puck’s Eriq Gardner to discuss the U.S. government's monopoly lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation (02:58). They briefly go through the history of the Ticketmaster–Live Nation merger, what lead to the eventual lawsuit, why concert prices won’t go down even if the two companies split, whether this lawsuit is just a PR attack against Ticketmaster, what impact this could have on the secondary markets, what a broken up Ticketmaster–Live Nation would look like, and more. Matt finishes the show with a prediction for this weekend’s holiday box office (27:00).

For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click this link: puck.news/thetown
Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com

Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Eriq Gardner

Producer: Jessie Lopez
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
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Matt is joined by Greenberg Glusker partner and entertainment litigator Aaron Moss to discuss the situation between Scarlett Johansson and OpenAI (03:38). They discuss what rights were possibly implicated, talk about the different routes she can take if she decides to file a lawsuit, and compare previous similar cases to determine if she could win. Matt finishes the show by making a prediction on the future of the CW Network (26:01).

For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click this link: puck.news/thetown
Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com

Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Aaron Moss

Producer: Jessie Lopez
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
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Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss why Netflix, Apple, and other streaming platforms are looking to change how they pay actors (03:25). After years of paying big up-front checks with no back end, streamers are looking to balance out their ballooning budgets by better aligning pay with performance. They debate why this change is happening now, how advertisements on these platforms could bring about more transparency, and whether this new model could actually work. Matt finishes the show with predictions on Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ and Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ (24:36).

For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click this link: puck.news/thetown
Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com

Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Lucas Shaw

Producer: Jessie Lopez
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
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Matt is joined by media analyst Rich Greenfield to give out their biggest takeaways from the TV up-fronts, including Netlifx’s three-year deal with the NFL, YouTube’s impressive viewership data, Amazon’s slew of splashy announcements, and why this year might mark a turning point in media (02:20). Matt finishes the show with a discussion of the newest ‘Wicked’ trailer and the future of two-part movies (24:55).

For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click this link: puck.news/thetown
Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com

Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Rich Greenfield

Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jessie Lopez
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices