On today’s episode, Variety’s Brian Steinberg details a deal between TelevisaUnivision and JCPenney to produce microdramas and microdrama branded content. And Chris Willman discusses the unique pleasures of standing in line with fellow music lovers on Record Store Day, Black Friday Edition.
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Episode Transcript
Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and
analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Tuesday, December second, twenty
twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Lyttleton. I am co
editor in chief of Variety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm in
LA He's in New York, and Righty has reporters around
the world covering the business of entertainment. On today's episode,
(00:29):
we'll hear from Vridy's Brian Steinberg on interesting developments for
the microdrama format at Televisa Univision and with J. C. Penny,
Both are experimenting with the format in ways that will
be watched by their competitors. And then Chris Willman joins
us to discuss the unique pleasures of standing in line
on record store Day on Black Friday. We talk about
(00:49):
communing with fellow music lovers and about the durability of
the vinyl revival that still surprises this record store alum.
But before we get to that, here are a few
headlines just in this morning that you need to know.
The new Netflix docu series on the Saga of Ditty
is sure to generate headlines all week. There's more than
a few disturbing allegations surfaced in Sean Comb's The Reckoning.
(01:13):
The four part series was helmed by Alexandria Stapleton and
produced by Curtis fifty cent Jackson Combs folkesperson released a
statement calling it a quote shameful hit piece end quote
that is based on what they claim is stolen footage.
Ditty's statement calls out Netflix's co CEO Ted Sarandos by name,
(01:33):
and even goes so far as to invoke the legacy
of Sirandos's late father in law, the famed businessman Clarence Avont.
Gotham Awards were held in New York last night, setting
off the cap gun on Winter Awards Season One Battle
after Another was the big winner for Best Feature. AMC
Networks is all in on Grapplers. The company assigned to
deal with TNA Wrestling to bring it to its linear
(01:56):
and streaming platforms. TNA's Thursday Night Impact franchise will join
AMC Network's linear lineup and the AMC Plus streaming platform
starting on January fifteenth. Riety is covering the Marakesh Film
Festival this week in Morocco. Motion Picture Academy CEO Bill
Kramer is there too, and in a conversation earlier today,
(02:17):
he reinforced the academy's global scope. He said, quote, we
are not the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. End quote. All
of these stories and so much more can be found
on vriday dot com right now, and now it's time
for conversations with Friday journalists about news and trends and
show business. Microdramas and short form vertical content is going
(02:41):
more mainstream by the day. Brian Steinberg, Vardy's senior television editor,
gives us a report on the deal between Televis Univision
and retailer J C. Penny to produce short form serials
for the Vick streaming platform. Brian Steinberg, thank you for
joining me, Thanks for having me well. As often is
the case, I'm scrolling around the Variety website and I
(03:02):
came across your story about tel Avisa Univision ordering micro
dramas and they have a big charter sponsor in JC Penny,
and I thought, this is just a stew of interesting
trends that I want to talk to Brian Steinberg about.
So here we are, Brian, let me step back and
ask you tel Avisa Univision, they're investing in microdramas, these
(03:24):
really short form, highly serialized shows. What is tel Avisa
Univision saying about what they want to do with micro dramas.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
They see these short form, bite size like quick hit
serials a great thing for their Australian service called vis Vix,
and they've commissioned at thirty for this year and they
say they're going to ramp it up Bryce Stelley in
twenty six without one hundred of these things, and so
they've been seeking sponsorship for these new shows pretty readily
since the summertime.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Give us a sense of like length of time and
how many episodes in a full series.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
My understandings are like one minute long episode, and they're
kind of like the telenovelas that maybe this generation's parents
and grandparents watches on Univision and Telemundo, very serialized, highly
dramatic soap operas that people watch in primetime, but there's
stories and people who watch them watch them with with
great rabidity. And this is the I guess, the modern equivalent,
(04:19):
but it's told in an hour. You're told me to
quick hit one minute long things, and you can flip
from one video in this much like you might do
on TikTok or Facebook's reels.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
So the microdrama format, the classic microdrama format that has
been exported from Asia has been on streaming apps and
you pay as you go. This is a different model.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I'm presuming this is still in the experimental phase. These
are being mostly made for this big streaming service. They
want a stickier venue that has things for young people
to kind of swipe up and down and keep going.
I think their initial research shows people are watching twenty
four of these things in a single session.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And j C. Penny will be the sole advertiser, so
they will have the total share of void on this.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
What jac Penny is doing is a little different. They're
creating their own microdrama that Universion proves themselves, and it
comes about a holiday shopping theme. These are ninety seconds
long and they're going to be shown across the Universion's
various social handles as well as Jesse Penny's whole handle.
So not an ad on the streaming service, but an
ad created by Univision for j C. Penny. I would
(05:21):
assume there's some sort of other commitments of sponsor advertising,
but it's a start for a different cloud commercial rather
than thirty seconds that interrupts the show, here's the show
on itself with holiday themes that promote JC Pennies products.
And in addition, you can shop the clicking with your
remote or your phone.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
The mind reels. I think somewhere mister mccannon and mister
Erickson are saluting that you found a way to make
the content the commercial and vice versa. But no, this
is really fascinating. I mean, this is the integration, the
convergence that we have known is coming. Let me ask
you from J. C. Penny's perspective, from the corporate advertiser,
(06:02):
do you feel like is this a flyer for them?
Do you do you think that they're seeing the research
that this is where you go to reach younger consumers,
because I gotta believe that that's a big part of this.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I think there was a definite effort to reach younger
viewers on their consumers. Spanish speaking consumers, Hispanic and Latino
audiences are growing in this country and there is a
new effort to try and reach them, and I think
advertisers are eager to reach them in an authentic fash.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Tele AVC Univision is telling you in your story that
they project doing as many as one hundred next year.
That's pretty staggering.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
They clearly are seeing traction here and they feel the
audience must like them. So I think that they see
a viability here.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
You quote their US head of advertising, Tim Natividad, who says, quote, Hey,
we know a trend when we see it end quote.
Do you see Madison Avenue embracing this content in a
big way?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, there's more of it being made. I mean there's
two new sports streaming services from ESPN and Fox. Both
of them have short form content. They call them verts
on ESPN, they call them shorts on Fox one. I
think there's a real effort to bring younger viewers back
to these more traditional companies with some of the content.
They quickly expressed an interest in, Brian.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
You had the scoop on this partnership between JC Penny
and tel Avic Univision, was that from keeping your ear
to the ground on Madison Avenue.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Well, Univision itself gave us a scoop during the upfront.
Do they were unveiling these new microdramas and want to
add support for them? So I continue to knock on
their door and say, Hey, any fruity, anyone sponsoring these things?
What's going on here? Because you know sometimes people in Alice,
thinking me upfront that never ever see the light of
day because no one ever sponsors them. So this guy
was really curious to see this new format and got
(07:44):
some traction with clients and average and they did come
to us when they did have a signed deal.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Sometimes just knocking on the door, ringing the phone enough times,
they'll be so happy to tell you when there is
something done, so that they can just get you off
their phone sheet. That's called reporting. Brian, and now we
turned to Chris Willman to talk about record store Day,
the revival of vinyl album sales, and what it all
(08:13):
says about music and fandom and the search for community
in the digital age. We also trip across a funny
coincidence involving my record store Alma Mater, Canterbury Records in Pasadena,
that I swear was not planned. Chris Willman, thank you
so much for joining me. Love to be with you. You
are en route to see a show, which is pretty
(08:33):
much your natural state, and I appreciate you taking some
time out to talk to me. You posted a great
story about the combination of record store Day and Black Friday,
which has become a holiday tradition, and I've been wanting
to talk to you about. Of course, the vinyl trend
is not new. It's been around now for years. But
as somebody who in a previous life when I did
(08:55):
work for a fabulous mom and pop record shop, Canterbury Records,
it's still there, it's still independent, it's still awesome. I
sold a lot of vinyl when I worked there in
the eighties and early nineties, and I also worked there
when the CD transition came in back then. If you'd
have told me thirty years later vinyl would make a comeback,
(09:16):
a serious comeback, I would have been completely skeptical. For now,
we're probably ten years into the vinyl revival. Chris, what
fuels it?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Well, a number of things. You know, there are that
minority of people, strong minority, who like things that are tactiles,
that aren't zeros and ones. And so for some people,
like a lot of Taylor Swift fans, they buy the
vinyl and they don't play it. They don't necessarily have
a turntable. I mean a lot of them do, but
a lot of them don't, and they'd like to display
(09:45):
the cover art or hold it in their hands while
they're listening to the stream. Having that needle in that
groove is a very physical sensation in a world where
there are fewer things that are not purely digital. Some
people will let me tell you that the sound is warmer,
so I think the cover art tangibility. And also, you
can't get someone to autograph a stream for you. But
(10:08):
if you go to a show and you go to
somebody some birch booth, chances are they will not have
CDs that they will have vinyl there and they'll be
signing it and people treasure that, so that's part of it.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Record Store Day has grown to be such an event
that labels plan releases around Record Store Day Priss. When
is it usually held?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
That's always twice a year now. The main Record Store
Day is every April. It's either the second or third
Saturday in April. And then the adjunct edition is the
Black Friday edition, which is not a small edition because
when you look at the number of releases for records
at Day in April, it's around three hundred and fifty.
(10:50):
It's about half that for Record Store Day Black Friday,
but one hundred and seventy five is still a lot.
So it still takes a lot of time if you're
studying what you want to buy, to go through that
line at to study how many copies of each are pressed,
of the ones you want to get, and decide how
early you want to get in line or how scarce
you think things are going to be. So one hundred
and seventy five is very healthy, even if that's just
(11:11):
half of what happens in April. But it is funny
having it on Black Friday, because you know it's the
one opportunity now people have to stand in line. If
that's your thing, and it is mine.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Chris, where did you go? I'm curious, Amiba, No.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
I go to youur oal Chop where you used to
work Category Records in Pasadena. That's my go to. It's
fun to go to an independent, you know, a truly
independent show. I mean, Amiba is independent, but to go
to something that's a little bit more of a mom
pos shop feels sort of more in spirit with the day.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
That completely warms my heart. I'm looking over the list
of releases for Black Friday. It's a really eclectic mix.
It's everything from Chapel Roon and Billie Eilish to a
nineteen eighty and eighty one show of Bad Brains, which
that's getting pretty obscure these days. I'm guessing that labels
(12:03):
look for artists that just have rabid fandom.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
It's very obscure groups sometimes, and if you look at
the number of quantities, it's pretty vast in the difference
these days. The lowest quantity I saw for anything looking
over the list was nine hundred or maybe even six hundred,
But then the highest were I believe Billie Eilish with
twenty thousand copies and Chapel Road with thirty thousand. But
(12:29):
that's very extreme for records to day. Most things are
in the one to six thousand copy range. Oh, it's
always interesting to see, like what the manufacturers, the labels,
maybe the artists themselves. In some cases, you know, I
think they'll sell because like there was a Billy Joel
triple album that they only press fifteen hundred copies though,
and they could have sold several times that amount. And
then there are maybe some lesser not acts that press
(12:52):
too many copies. And you can go into Canterbury and
still see a few years later.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Going into twenty twenty six for Record Store Day be
so strong? What does that tell us about fandom and
pop music and gathering.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
So it is a chance to, you know, just celebrate
that space where when we all live in the digital stratosphere,
we're all doing our own thing, and so we go
to concerts and movies. But to actually be like in
a retail space where people feel that, it's kind of
an odd sensation that we certainly would have taken for
granted back in the day of liquorice pizza in the warehouse.
(13:28):
So it can be a gathering space where you actually
meet people for the first time. One thing that strikes
me about it is just how many of the people
who are going are not just there for one style
of music. I think everybody kind of looks over the
list and go, Okay, yeah, I know I want this
one thing, but maybe I'll take a chance on this
Curtis Mayfield reissue that people are talking about. And in
(13:51):
the day after recordster Day or a couple of days after,
I see forums where people are going net gosh, now
that I've read so much people raving about the Curtis
Mayfield I'm going to go see if I can find
us store it still has it in stock, or find
a copy online, and so it's a chance to kind
of share opinions and takes on things you would never
normally talk about in daily life with people where all
(14:11):
of a sudden, like there are thousands of people across
the country who are excited about Bill Evans and wanting
to share that with the people who are in it
for Chapel Road, and there's some overlap there. So that's
part of the fun for me.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Well, I completely co sign and I just remember the
joy of the regular visits to my favorite record shops.
Nowadays I make a special trip, but there was a
time when it was going to the record shop was
just like going to the grocery store. Chris, let me ask,
what was the first thing that you listened to when
you got home with your record store day treasures.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Well, I was fortunate, and then I got some preview copies,
which feels a little bit like cheating. There's a collection
of Talking Heads demos and including stuff from before they
even call themselves talking Heads in nineteen seventy and there
was a Bob Dylan released where it was the Free
Wheel and Bob Dylan album as it was originally conceived
with four different songs and the ones that actually ended
(15:09):
up on the final version of the album is a
Joni Mitchell collection from the Rolling Thunder review tour, where
she kind of opened for Bob Dylan of stuff from
nineteen seventy five seventy six. I listened to stuff that
I don't normally put on every day because it's like, Okay,
I should listen to this Billy Joel live album and
it's really good, even though Billy Joel has not been
(15:32):
my favorite artist or anything. So part of it's that discovery.
But you know, the Dylan, the talking heads of that
sort of stuff is a little bit of a sweet
spot that I had to put on first.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Chris is always thank you for being the beacon of
all things great and wondrous about music.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Always glad to be with you. Thanks Antha.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
As we close out today's episode, here's a few things
we're watching for. He's producing digital dailies this week out
of Buenos Aires at the Ventana sur Film Market this week.
It's one of the biggest in Latin America. The event
started in two thousand and nine as a joint venture
of the Cannes Film Festival and the state Film and
TV Agency of Argentina and now Uruguay is also a partner.
(16:18):
Don't miss my colleague Todd Spangler's report on YouTube's year
end recap list. The Digital Giant has unveiled a personal
recap feature this year, which tracks an individual user's watch history.
They also released some general lists. Among the year's top
trending topics were Squid Game, The Boo Boos, k Pop,
(16:39):
Demon Hunters, Nintendo Switch To, and of course brain Rot.
We love to hear from our listeners, so please send thoughts, gripes,
and other feedback about Daily Variety to podcasts at Variety
dot com. Before we go, congrats to Rob Marcus. He's
been promoted to head of International for WM's contemporary music team.
(16:59):
Marcus has with The ten Percentury for more than twenty years.
He was most recently a senior partner. Thanks for listening.
This episode was written and reported by me Cynthia Littleton,
with contributions from Briin Steinberg and Chris Willman. Sticks Nick's
hick picks. Please leave us a review at the podcast
platform of your choice, and please tune in tomorrow for
another episode of Daily Variety and don't Forget to tell
(17:22):
us what you think at podcasts at Variety dot com.
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