REICH COMMUNICATIONS

Movies

 

We used to be big movie-goers.  We'd often see a few movies each month. In fact, sometimes we'd do a movie marathon, seeing two or even three movies back-to-back at the multiplex.

And then came Covid.

Movies or binging series on TV became the "night out," even though it was just on our couch at home.

We were thrilled when movie theaters started to re-open, although we went to the movies with some trepidation -- always being careful to keep our masks on throughout the film.  Our first post-Covid movie theater experience -- in Hollywood -- was just us, our son and one stranger in the entire theater.  Even now, with Covid pretty much behind us, when we do go to the movies were are among just a handful of people in the audience.

These days, though, we don't find ourselves going to the movies as often as before. 

Going to the movies used to be "an event" or a special night out.  But now that theaters have finally re-opened, we just don't go out to the movies as much as before. 

And it's not just us...  Some Google research shows that movie ticket sales have a long way to go to fully recover from Covid.  In 2019, 1.2 billion movie tickets were sold,  bringing in more than $11.2 billion.  During Covid in 2020, those numbers dropped to 216 million tickets worth $1.9 billion -- the lowest since the 1970s.

Nash Information Services, publisher of "The Numbers," estimates that 747 million movie tickets will be sold this year, bringing in $11.2 billion.  (Keep in mind that the average ticket price is now $10.45 nationally, compared with about $3 back in the 70s.)

I think people want to go back to the movies, but a question these days is -- do they need to?

During Covid, studios released films via streaming, so they still made money, while theaters sat empty.  

Studios also made films, series and mini-series for viewing on HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Amazon Prime and other paid or streaming venues. 

There's so much good stuff that you can watch on your home screen, and more people are watching at home.  The economics make sense, too.  Why pay $13 - $15 per ticket (in the NYC area) when you can rent a new film for $10 - $20 and have a living room full of people watch?

A case can certainly be made for going to the movie theater -- the shared experience, the big screen and big sound system, the fresh theater popcorn. 

But is that enough to bring people back to the movie theater?

We'll see.

 

It's Spring!

Q = 90

 

Happy birthday Quincy Jones

Vinyl Lives

When CDs hit the market in 1982, many thought it would spell the end of vinyl records.  And it almost did.

Some thought vinyl LPs provide a superior sound than CDs, although I don't agree.  With CDs, you don't get the rumble or scratches and pops that you often hear on vinyl

CDs can hold more music, so you don't have to get up to turn a record over after 15 or 20 minutes. 

To me, the biggest drawback of CDs was the scaling down of the album cover art.

Even as CDs took over the market, vinyl maintained a loyal following, especially with fans of indie and punk bands.  But the numbers tipped heavily in favor of CDs, and by 1987 CDs were outselling vinyl.  

But there always remained a group loyal to vinyl.

The Recording Industry Association of America released sales figures a few days ago, and last year, for the first time since 1987, vinyl outsold CDs.  The RIAA says 41 million vinyl albums were sold last year, compared with 33 million CDs.

Part of the change comes from the fact that there aren't many "record" stores anymore.  Sam Goody, Tower Records and others are long gone and Barnes & Noble, which used to have a decent music selection, now has maybe one rack with a handful of CDs and some vinyl.  The records, which now are made on a thicker sheet of vinyl, are priced way above CDs -- averaging in the mid-$20 range and more. 

I have hundreds of vinyl records, almost all dating back pre-CD.  Almost all of my music purchases since the mid-80s have been CDs and, on the rare occasions that I buy recorded music now, it's on a CD.

Clearly, I'm the exception. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wayne Shorter

The jazz world is a bit bluer today, as we learn of the passing of sax man Wayne Shorter.    

He played with all the greats, from Art Blakey to Miles and later with jazz-fusion band Weather Report.  I played his tunes on my jazz show on college radio back in the late '60s.

Click here to listen to him, playing with Herbie Hancock, Joe Chambers and Reggie Workman, from one of his albums recorded in 1966. 

 

What We Do: New Jersey Home & Garden Show

WCBS-TV, Channel 2 in New York, did a nice segment this morning with client Eric Udler, producer of the New Jersey Home & Garden Show, and one the features at the show, Patric Richardson, the Laundry Guy.

Here's a link to the clip.

NJ.com, the site of the Star Ledger and other affiliated papers in New Jersey, ran a great preview, also featuring the Laundry Guy.  Click here to see the story.

 

 

 

 

What We Do: N J Home & Garden Show

The New Jersey Home & Garden Show is this weekend at the New Jersey Convention Center in Edison, NJ.

We have a live in-studio interview Friday morning on WCBS-TV 2, with show producer Eric Udler and one of the features, Patric Richardson, Discovery TV's the Laundry Guy.  

 

$7 Million...Gone in a Blink

FOX announced it has sold out all its ad inventory in this weekend's Super Bowl. 

Thirty-second ads have gone for between $6 and $7 million, with a couple of ads in prime spots going for a bit more.

There's always a lot of talk about the ads in Super Bowl and some get extra air time in other programming and on social media.  But still... commercial breaks, even during Super Bowl, are when many viewers go to the bathroom or the kitchen.

Seven million, gone in a flush.

That's a Wrap -- National Passenger Safety Week

 

We just finished media outreach for National Passenger Safety Week for The National Road Safety Foundation.  The key message is to encourage passengers to speak up when in a vehicle being driven dangerously.  Since 24% of all traffic fatalities are passengers, speaking up can make a real difference in reducing the terrible toll of traffic crashes.

A main thrust of our outreach was a virtual media tour --interviews done via zoom.  We hit more than 40 stations, including some in major markets -- from WCBS-TV in New York to WRC-TV NBC 4 in Washington DC, and stations in Baltimore, Hartford, Portland OR, Chattanooga, Richmond and Roanoke VA, Charlotte and Raleigh in NC, New Orleans and Phoenix, plus many smaller markets.

We also arranged to have the week listed on the official calendar of NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That brought us lots more coverage and many local and state police agencies did their own local media outreach, using information we we supplied.

We partnered with We Save Lives, whose founder Candace Lightner (former founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving), came to us with the initial idea two years ago. She helped by doing the bulk of the TV interviews.  Students at SADD nationwide helped with a blitz on social media.

Overall, National Passenger Safety Week was a big success.  We're already planning for next year's -- Jan. 14 - 23, 2024.

 

 

 

 

What We Do: National Passenger Safety Week Media Tour

It's Day 2 of National Passenger Safety Week and we've been very busy generating media coverage, with the message for passengers to speak up when in a vehicle being driven unsafely.  It's for client the National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF).

Our key spokesperson is Candace Lightner, founder of We Save Lives (and, years ago, the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving).  Working with Bob Thomas, we've done some 30 interviews so far with TV stations throughout the country, along with some radio including WCBS Newsradio in Market #1 -- New York.  Candace did 10 zoom interviews just yesterday.  Here's one... from Raleigh NC.

Michelle Anderson of the National Road Safety Foundation did a live in-studio spot this morning on WCBS-TV 2 here in New York, and Candace covered the Washington DC market with a taped interview on WRC-TV NBC 4.

There's still lots more to come.

National Passenger Safety Week was Candace Lightner's idea and she brought it to us at the National Road Safety Foundation.  The two organizations teamed up to launch it last year and we were able to get it designated officially on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration calendar.  That encouraged many other organizations like AAA and state governments to do their own localized publicity to get the word out, adding to the media blitz.  We also partner with SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), the student advocacy group with a few hundred thousand members in high schools nationwide.  They're posting messages and graphics on their social media sites, with members re-posting to spread the message even wider. people. 

And there's lots of good info on at www.nationalpassengersafety.org.

 

 

 

What We Do: National Passenger Safety Week

 

We're getting started with our annual media blitz to support National Passenger Safety Week, which begins Sunday.  The idea is to empower passengers to speak up when in a vehicle being driven dangerously.  Since passengers make up 62% of all traffic fatalities, the simple act of speaking up can save many lives. 

The National Road Safety Foundation, with We Save Lives, are leading the charge, with more than 50 other organizations participating by getting the message out on their social media channels.  We Save Lives is led by Candace Lightner, who years ago started Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

We're putting together a 2-week media push, with lots of interviews on TV, radio and papers nationwide.  It also includes media buys on the all-news radio stations in New York and D.C.

More on this to come...