Subscription podcasting offers a new digital business model for NPR and its member stations. But its long-standing mission to inform the public limits how much content the non-profit can put behind a paywall. - Axios
Box office rebounded, climbing to $26 million from Christmas Week’s grim, Covid-decimated $14 million. That’s an overall, week-to-week increase of 87%, and reflects a tally largely in keeping with recent pre-Christmas Week figures. - Deadline
Of course, there has been grumbling for decades about Nielsen’s methods or the validity of box office projections, but there was generally some kind of verdict once a show aired or a movie opened. Today, not so much. - Deadline
Regardless of where it sits, TikTok is no joke when it comes to popularity. It had a surge of growth during the pandemic which has seen its demographics expand from mostly just Gen Z to countless people around the planet looking to connect and kill time. - PC Gamer
And the authors of those books — who, not long ago, couldn't get a single look from publishers — can thank social media: Booksgram, BookTube, and BookTok. - The Guardian
You can sense it in all the calculations Disney has been making with regard to what goes to theaters, what’s PVOD, and what goes directly to Disney+. - Slate
Beginning in mid-January, audience members at all performances at the Ahmanson Theater and Mark Taper Forum, as well as those by the Philharmonic and Master Chorale at Disney Hall will have to show proof of booster vaccination status to be admitted. - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
Worldwide box office is $1.05B which makes Sony’s No. 2 film of all time, behind only Spider-Man: Far From Home ($1.13B). No Way Home is also the No. 1 title of the year worldwide — and one of the only movies of the modern era to ever reach $1B without China. - Deadline
A YouGov poll of 1,000 Americans found that roughly 56% of 18-to-44-year-olds weren't deterred by the new, rapidly spreading coronavirus variant, with only between 20% and 27% actively deterred. That latter figure among those aged 45 to 64 is 39%, with another 37% neutral. - The Hollywood Reporter
A set of young New Yorkers seems to have decided that the Met is cool. Sure, many of them appear more interested in the dress-up-drink-Champagne-and-be-fabulous aspect than in the art, but that's been true for centuries — and others are finding they like opera. - The New York Times
Not sequels: people obviously love new installments in a franchise. The difference seems to be that fans want the characters they already know in new situations, not new actors as the characters they know. (Exception: when the previous version didn't work, as with Dune.) - The Guardian
Ballet companies count on the income from parents bringing the kids to Nutcracker; same with the Met Opera's English-language children's versions of classics; many museums have shows timed for school vacation. And, at last, the younger set can get vaccinated. Fingers are crossed. - The New York Times
Maybe not, but the performers are eager not to replicate last year's cancellations and lack of revenue. And yet ... a thousand screaming children in the audience? Well, technology helps. - BBC
