Whether you were in The Hamptons, the Berkshires or lolling about your backyard somewhere in Westchester or Brooklyn this Fourth of July weekend — lolling about almost anywhere pleasant on
earth — chances are your smart set of pals weren’t gassing with anticipation about what great movie was in the works.
No, that chatter was probably an enthusiastic pitch for what
Netflix or Amazon series to binge on. Conversations lakeside or seaside were much more likely to be about the recently released fourth season of Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black”
or “The Mindy Project,” rescued by Hulu after being canceled by Fox.
Two decades ago, you might, like me, have been looking forward to doing your patriotic cinematic duty, heading
to “Independence Day,” and anticipating being bathed in air-conditioned popcorn splendor. So there we were, on July 4, 2016, and asked to see…“Independence Day:
Resurgence?” Are you f---in’ kidding me?!?
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Some important streaming data that Nielsen released last week at a client conference tells a big part of my story — and, my bet is,
your story, too. The premiere episode of the new season of “Orange Is the New Black,” for example, was watched by 6.7 million viewers in the first three days of its release on Netflix.
That’s a Trumpian-level yuuuuge number. As The Wall Street Journal reported, that’s the kind of number “Game of Thrones” delivers, and that’s the biggest hit in
HBO history.
No doubt there is a strong connection to this streaming data, and the dismal current box office numbers. So far this summer, movie revenues are off by about 20% from only a year
ago. In the wake of the July 4 weekend, The Hollywood Reporter dubbed what’s happening as “freefall at the multiplex.” It’s a perfect storm of a dearth of quality this
summer on the big screen.
Look no further than this week’s Top Box Office releases on rottentomatoes.com.
Only “Finding Dory” got a better-than 90% favorable ratings from critics and fans alike. Just about everything else on the list ranges in ratings from just OK, to execrable. So forget
“Finding Dory” — how about finding view-worthy movie fare?
Meanwhile, there’s a perpetual flow of quality TV streaming on the home screen, with your own popcorn and A/C
control nearby. The biggest complaint from consumers is how can they keep up with all the good stuff.
The day before Nielsen gave a peek into the ratings for some popular streaming service
series, it released another study, one that revealed how many households subscribe to streaming services. The Nielsen presentation said 52% of U.S. households now have some form of subscription
streaming video service, up from about 40% two years ago.
That stat made me hit the pause button, because it speaks volumes about today’s TV Everywhere landscape.
I know these
truths to be self-evident, up-close and personal. When spending time with family and friends on Independence Day: The Reality, the rain came to my neighborhood, which made watching fireworks from the
roof a washout. That’s when someone suggested a trip to the local movie house. After a quick search, we realized there was absolutely nothing anybody wanted to pay to see, let alone watch even
if free passes were available. Same was true when we stayed in and I perused the on-demand new releases and came up with bupkes.
You probably can guess how the Fourth of July weekend
ended. For us, it was with a catch-up episode of “Game of Thrones” and the finale of season three of Netflix’s “Peaky Blinders.” For you, it may have been some semblance
of this. But certainly, not with “Independence Day: Regurgence”— sorry, “Resurgence.” That would have been too much to ask even of the most red, white and blue
patriot.
Isn’t this something we can all agree on, regardless of anyone's politics? Perhaps. And until they Make the Multiplex Great Again, I’m sticking at home, where the real
viewing action is. And I know I’m not Home Alone.