The Town with Matthew Belloni

This week, Matt is in New York for the network upfronts, a gathering of the major players in television to present their programming plans for the upcoming TV season to the advertising community. Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss whether advertisers will continue to pay top dollar to these major broadcast networks in a media landscape that is shifting to digital.Host: Matt BelloniGuest: Lucas ShawProducer: Craig HorlbeckTheme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When it comes to streaming, is Disney the new Netflix? Matt is joined by analyst Michael Nathanson to discuss Disney’s recently released quarterly earnings report, its growing number of subscribers, and whether the cost to potentially beat out Netflix in the streaming wars has been worth it.Host: Matt BelloniGuest: Michael NathansonProducer: Devon ManzeTheme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are the quality of Marvel movies and television shows in decline? Matt is joined by The Ringer’s Sean Fennessey to discuss Marvel's recent dip in quality, the future of its content, and if the biggest issues are creative, financial, or both.Host: Matt BelloniGuest: Sean FennesseyProducer: Craig HorlbeckTheme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw conduct the first streaming service draft! They draft their way through each of the top streaming services (Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV+, Amazon, Paramount+, Peacock, Hulu), and pitch why they believe their roster will succeed the most over the next 10 years.Host: Matt BelloniGuest: Lucas ShawProducer: Craig HorlbeckTheme song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Seth Abramovitch of The Hollywood Reporter to discuss the recent New Yorker profile on Elisabeth Moss, including its reference to Seth’s article from a few years back and Moss’s involvement with Scientology.Host: Matt BelloniGuest: Seth AbramovitchProducer: Craig HorlbeckTheme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by divorce attorney Brett Ward to discuss whether Johnny Depp has a case that he lost tens of millions of dollars of potential career earnings because of Amber Heard’s op-ed in The Washington Post.Host: Matt BelloniGuest: Brett WardProducer: Craig HorlbeckTheme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to talk about the beginning of the end for peak TV. With 559 original scripted shows on television and streaming, will the overall volume of content finally decrease? They discuss oversaturation, the problem with doom-scrolling, and the conundrum of curation on streaming platforms.Host: Matt BelloniGuest: Lucas ShawProducer: Craig HorlbeckTheme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Puck News contributor Eriq Gardner to discuss former Lakers star Jerry West’s demand of a retraction over HBO’s ‘Winning Time’. They also discuss Olivia Wilde getting served legal documents by Jason Sudekis in Las Vegas.Host: Matt BelloniGuest: Eriq GardnerProducer: Craig HorlbeckTheme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by lawyer Aaron Moss to discuss a legal loophole that is suddenly a big deal to legacy film and TV studios called “termination rights,” a quirk of copyright law that allows certain creators to recapture their work. If you’re a studio like Marvel, that loophole could lead to a large headache.Host: Matt BelloniGuest: Aaron MossProducer: Craig HorlbeckTheme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss what an ad-supported tier on Netflix would look like, as well as what the company would need to change about its business and data-gathering practices to do so. Then they are joined by the head of research at Fanthropology, Kris Longfield, to talk about a new study on the growing divide in the public's interest in returning to movie theaters.Host: Matt BelloniGuests: Lucas Shaw and Kris LongfieldProducer: Craig HorlbeckTheme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices