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Frank Ocean’s “Blonde” Makes a Ripple Not Waves at Number 1 with Good But Not Great Numbers

Roger Friedman
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Frank Ocean’s “Blonde” Makes a Ripple Not Waves at Number 1 with Good But Not Great Numbers

“Blond(e),” the new album by Frank Ocean, didn’t hit last week until late Saturday– meaning, it missed a whole day– Friday– and most of Saturday for sales.

Also, there’s no actual CD, it’s all digital, either for download or for streaming only on Apple Music.

The result: “Blonde” came in at number 1, with so so numbers. The album had 232,140 downloads and the equivalent of 50,000 streams on Apple Music. If it had been available on other streaming services, the number might have been higher. If there had been a physical CD, people might have bought it. ALso, a radio friendly single wouldn’t have hurt.

As it is, without “Blonde,” this would have been another classic low sales week in the depressed record business. The number 2 album, by Lindsey Stirling, sold 42,690 copies. The number 50 album sold around four thousand copies.

The big news of the week is that Emeli Sande, our favorite new singer of 2012, is releasing a new album in September. It’s about freakin’ time.

Rumor: Hollywood Reporter, Billboard Purchase by WME Talent Agency Would Create Chaos

Roger Friedman
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Rumor: Hollywood Reporter, Billboard Purchase by WME Talent Agency Would Create Chaos

The New York Post’s Keith Kelly and Claire Atkinson suggest today that Billboard, the Hollywood Reporter, and Dick Clark Productions– all owned now by Todd Boehly formerly of Guggenheim Partners– could be sold to the William Morris Endeavor Agency.

Hitsdailydouble.com, Billboard’s rival, say it’s not true. And anyway, the Hollywood Reporter is bleeding $20 million a year. And Billboard? Who knows? Dick Clark Productions produces the Golden Globes, American Music Awards, and a variety of awards shows.

Kelly and Atkinson usually smell smoke where there’s a fire. But this idea seems half baked. It’s not like THR has great journalistic standards. And they did feature the owners of WME on a recent cover. But if Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell et al actually owned THR, the already compromised publication would be a house organ for the agents and their clients. And they’d play it like a Wurlitzer.

The agents would certainly have trouble with the concept of church and state. Not only would The Reporter be featuring exclusives on WME deals and clients, but Billboard too would be used for that purpose on the music front. And imagine the awards shows. The Golden Globes are fighting to improve their image. This move wouldn’t help them. Dick Clark Productions’ other awards shows– like American Music Awards or their new People magazine awards–would become a WME fest. And you couldn’t blame WME agents for hinting to prospective clients that they could get awards more easily by signing with the agency.

A WME takeover of the former Guggenheim properties– a bad idea. And in Hollywood, that means it could happen. Like “Ben Hur.”

Matthew McConaughey Faces Second Box Office Disaster of the Year with “Sea of Trees”

Roger Friedman
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Matthew McConaughey Faces Second Box Office Disaster of the Year with “Sea of Trees”

If you’re wondering why Matthew McConaughey, an Oscar winner, continues to do commercials for Lincoln automobiles, here’s the answer.

Today he opens in Gus van Sant’s “Sea of Trees,” which currently has a 10 on Rotten Tomatoes. There’s been no publicity for “Trees” because it’s awful, no one wanted to release it, and now it arrives to terrible reviews.

This is McConaughey’s second disastrous release of the year. The first was “Free State of Jones,” which mostly is already forgotten except by those scarred from seeing it.

Bad films happen to good people. Gary Ross made “Jones,” and he’s a fine director. Van Sant barked up the wrong “Trees,” and he is much admired for many films like “Good Will Hunting” and “Drugstore Cowboy,” even weirder cutting edge stuff like “My Own Private Idaho.”

But “Trees” has been rotting for some time, with no major distributor wanting to get involved. It also substitutes Worcester, Massachusetts for Japan, so figure that out.

McConaughey has a bunch of better things coming including Stephen Gaghan’s “Gold,” and Ron Howard’s “The Dark Tower.” Plus, if you want a quick reminder of the real deal, watch that early scene in “Wolf of Wall Street” when he has lunch with Leonardo DiCaprio.

(Watch) Barbra Streisand and “Donald Trump” Duet on Jimmy Fallon

Roger Friedman
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(Watch) Barbra Streisand and “Donald Trump” Duet on Jimmy Fallon

Barbra Streisand sang a duet last night with “Donald Trump” on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show. They performed “Anything You Can Do,” and it was a hoot. Streisand’s new album, “Encores,” is out today, and it’s already number 4 on iTunes and number 1 on Amazon.

While Sting Readies His New Single, Wife Trudie Styler Makes a Memorable Cameo in “The Night Of”

Roger Friedman
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While Sting Readies His New Single, Wife Trudie Styler Makes a Memorable Cameo in “The Night Of”

Fervent fans of HBO’s amazing “The Night Of” might have wondered who the hot slightly older wealthy blonde was who John Turturro interviewed last Sunday. Her character was the prior wife of the may-be murderer, the physical trainer with an eye for mature wives. Why, that was none other than Trudie Styler, actress-producer-director and wife of rock star Sting.

Styler’s name was in the end credits Sunday night, but the role isn’t even listed on her imdb page. It was a stealth appearance, but a memorable one. Styler went toe to toe with Turturro– literally, as her toes turned out to be quite aggressively fetching!

“The Night Of” isn’t Styler’s only TV appearance this fall. She stars in three episodes of “Falling Water,” a mysterious new series on USA Network. A wearer of many hats, Styler is also the producer of a hot title at the Toronto Film Festival in September– Andrea Arnold’s “American Honey,” which caused a sensation in Cannes this past May. Nothing like keeping busy!

And Sting? He debuts his new single, “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” on KROQ in Los Angeles on August 31st. The whole thing will be live streamed to this site from KROQ’s. Who can’t he stop thinking about? You guess.

PS “The Night Of” is the best new series anywhere in a long time. There are only two more episodes– drat. Eventually, the murder will have to be solved. But everyone in it is splendid, from Turturro and Riz Ahmed to the entire supporting cast including Bill Camp, Amara Karan, and Jeannie Berlin, who also steals Woody Allen’s “Cafe Society” this summer.

Ann Coulter’s Trump Book, Priced to Sell, Isn’t Selling So Far

Roger Friedman
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Ann Coulter’s Trump Book, Priced to Sell, Isn’t Selling So Far

ann coulterSurprise! I told you last week that Donald Trump’s latest book isn’t selling and didn’t sell that well when it first was published.

The trend continues.

Two days ago, conservative pundit Ann Coulter released a new book called “In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome!” Sentinel, the conservative imprint at Penguin, is the publisher.

You’d think there would be an immediate reaction in the marketplace– especially if Trump is doing better than the polls suggest. He certainly says he’s doing better.

And “In Trump We Trust” is priced to sell. It’s hard cover, but only $15 on Barnes and Noble.com, and $13 on Amazon.That’s so cheap for a hardcover it’s worth buying as a joke gift.

Anyway, it’s not selling well. The book is number 75 on Amazon, and 139 on Barnes and Noble. If only conservative pundits could just sell their writing as part of a radio call in show. But their followers don’t appear to be big readers.

Report: Music Stars–Not Even Drake–Can’t Make Money from Streaming, If They Make Any Money at All

Roger Friedman
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Report: Music Stars–Not Even Drake–Can’t Make Money from Streaming, If They Make Any Money at All

Gone, gone, gone. Gone are the good old days of music artists making any money from records. (That’s what they were called.)

According to a chart put together by hitsdailydouble.com, rock stars are not making much from streaming. How can you tell?

Last week, a group called The Chainsmokers had the number 1 single. It produced a total of $225,956 in revenue that included downloading and streaming. The streaming part came to $104,634. And that little bit of streaming money was generated by sixteen million streams– 16,246,000 to be exact.

That miniscule $104,634 is just for one week, But their song, “Closer,” won’t be number 1 for long. Plus, think dividing up that money. There are five Chainsmokers, plus Halsey, a hot female singer, who’s featured on the record. The Chainsmokers have a record label, a manager, agents, publicists, etc. The money from “Closer” is already gone.

How about the number 1 song of the summer? Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” has been around since the beginning of June. Last week, its total revenue was $85,163. The streaming part was just $30,046. That’s what Timberlake spent on golf balls last week.

No wonder Adele and Taylor Swift have limited their streaming.

One note: Drake’s biggest hit this week, “One Dance,” had 12, 217,000 streams. But his total revenue was less than Sia, whose “Cheap Thrills” had 7.4 million streams. Drake has been the streaming king of the summer. But he may have made a lot less than if hadn’t limited himself to just one service at the start of the summer. Rihanna also suffering from a botched opening. And Kanye West isn’t even part of this story.

HITS_Daily_Double_Rumor_Mill_-_REVENUE_CHART_SOMETHING_YOU_CAN_BANK_ON_-_2016-08-25_11.23.04

Media Mayhem: The “Lou Grant” of Time Warner Cable, Steve Paulus of NY1, Replaced by Charter Cable

Roger Friedman
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Media Mayhem: The “Lou Grant” of Time Warner Cable, Steve Paulus of NY1, Replaced by Charter Cable

Steve+Paulus+NY1+20th+Anniversary+Celebration+TWOmxgV8BdMlHmmm…neither the New York Times or the NY Post reported this when it happened late last Friday afternoon.

The news: Steve Paulus, founder of New York City’s fabled Time Warner NY1 channel, is out after 25 years. He’ll leave next week after a stunning run building and carrying out the popular local channel.

The reason: Charter Communications bought what is called Time Warner Cable, but no long has anything to do with Time Warner, the company that makes movies, magazines, and CNN. Investors bought the cable company, wrecked it, and then sold it to Charter.

Paulus, whose sister Diane is the award winning Broadway director, is a legend in New York news circles. Dozens of his reporters have graduated to local and network news. And all of his anchors– like Pat Kiernan, Roma Torre, Lewis Dodley– have become local superstars. Movie coverage with Neil Rosen and George Whipple is legendary.

Paulus has made NY1 must-see TV whenever anything big or little is going on in town. It’s where we get reports on local heroes in the outer boroughs, murders, fires, burglaries, the weather, and if the subway is still running.

The NY1 press release says that Paulus is “retiring” and he said in it that he was looking forward to watching the presidential campaign rather than work on it. What? I’ve never heard a news man say that about a national election.

Paulus’s number 2 has taken over day to day operations, but my sources say the chatter at Charter is that the new company’s people are moving in. The staff is wondering what will happen to the channel. It sounds a little like when Lou Grant was let go from WJM. Sad. But maybe now Steve can appear in one of Diane’s productions!

Denzel Washington Is Going to Have a Heck of a Fall Season with “Magnificent 7” and “Fences”

Roger Friedman
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Denzel Washington Is Going to Have a Heck of a Fall Season with “Magnificent 7” and “Fences”

The fall season is about to spring upon us, and a few people will be highlighted.

My money is on Denzel Washington, who has two big hits coming to bookend the season.

Denzel stars in Antoine Fuqua’s “The Magnificent Seven,” opening the Toronto Film Festival on September 8th, and then opening in theatres everywhere on September 23rd.

Washington heads up an all star cast that includes Peter Sarsgaard, Ethan Hawke, Chris Pratt, Haley Bennett, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Luke Grimes. The buzz is very strong from early screenings. While some remakes like “Ben Hur” have collapsed at the box office, “M7” looks like a winner.

But wait– there’s more for Denzel. His film adaptation of August Wilson’s “Fences” comes in December. Washington directs himself and Viola Davis in the main roles, with Russell Hornsby. Denzel already knows his way around “Fences,” having staged it himself on Broadway with Viola, who won a Tony Award for Best Actress. “Fences” the movie is an Oscar certainty.

Remember– Viola Davis first came to attention on film when she played the lead character’s drug addicted mother in “Antwone Fisher,” which Washington also directed.

One irony of the Oscar season– Nate Parker, who wrote, directed and stars in “The Birth of a Nation,” is also a Washington graduate. He starred in Denzel’s “The Great Debaters” nine years ago. If the movie can overcome its current problems and head to awards, Washington can also take pride in that accomplishment.

(Watch) Mary J. Blige Sings “World’s Gone Crazy” New Theme from “The View” (Scooped Here)

Roger Friedman
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(Watch) Mary J. Blige Sings “World’s Gone Crazy” New Theme from “The View” (Scooped Here)

I told you last week EXCLUSIVELY that Mary J. Blige had recorded the new theme song for “The View.” The song is called “World’s Gone Crazy,” and it’s written by the great Diane Warren.

Here it is:

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