Boldly moving to disrupt yet another dicey corner of the media and entertainment business, Penske Media Group showbiz trade Variety said Thursday that it will soon begin publishing weekly top 10 lists for original streaming movies and TV shows culled from data generated by Penske's own Luminate research business. 

Starting March 24, Variety will publish two weekly rankers, one for TV shows and another one for films, based on minutes viewed in the U.S. for subscription streaming platforms AMC Plus, Amazon Prime, Discovery Plus, Disney Plus, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Paramount Plus and Peacock.

Variety has for decades published audience performance data from Nielsen, which now also publishes weekly rankers on the performance of streaming shows. However, our own deep dive into Nielsen streaming rankings discovered numerous issues in regards to methodologies and accuracy. Perhaps worse, Nielsen's "Streaming TV Top 10" delivers performance data that is a month old. 

Also read: Who's No. 1 in Subscription Streaming? Muddled Metrics Methodologies Make Matters Murky

"Luminate’s new model offers visibility through multiple, differentiated data sources and powerful data science," a Penske press rep told Next TV via email that, "Existing alternative offerings from other companies have limitations or higher risk for inaccuracies that include: they have no verified consumption source, and instead rely on social media, BitTorrent and public search; they also rely on research panels that often skew female and older, [and are thus] not reflective of the full audience; and they have delayed reporting of up to 30 days." 

Luminate's platform refreshes daily, the rep added, "and these charts will be updated weekly."

In October 2020, Penske Media Group formed a joint venture with MRC, then the financially strapped owner of The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and other publishing brands. Among the operations put under PMC's control at the time was the data collection unit behind the venerable Billboard music charts.

In March 2022, the erstwhile P-MRC Data was rebranded as Luminate. And under PMC's watch, Luminate has been developing its so-called "Streaming Viewership" product that will be showcased weekly by Variety.

"Data transparency surrounding SVOD viewership remains a pressing issue within the entertainment industry," said Mark Hoebich, executive VP and head of film & TV for  Luminate, in a statement. "After two years of development, we are eager to provide this valuable information to all relevant parties with our new Streaming Viewership product, and we are grateful to Variety for being our official partner in delivering that data to the public each week.

"Having already proven our reliability with our more than 30 years working with Billboard to fuel their iconic music charts, we're confident that the information we are sharing in these new charts will help unify the industry for a singular reference point surrounding streaming viewership," Hoebich added. 

The respective parent companies of Variety and The Hollywood Reporter announced a joint venture Wednesday that effectively merges the two oldest and biggest show business trade publications, housing them in a joint venture controlled by Variety owner Penske Media Corp. (PMC).

Under the agreement, MRC publications THR, along with sibling music-industry pubs Billboard and Vibe, will be put in the daily operational control of PMC, owner of Variety, Rolling Stone and Music Business Worldwide. The joint venture will be called "PMRC."

The agreement effectively puts most of the local business-to-business press covering Hollywood content production into the hands of PMC, which also owns digital news operation Deadline Hollywood.

A second joint venture will enable MRC to use content from the PMRC brands, along with the company's Dick Clark Productions asset, to develop other content and business opportunities.

"Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter and Vibe have created some of the finest content in their respective industries and have contributed immensely to the heightened quality of journalism covering entertainment and music today," PMC CEO Jay Penske said in a statement. "We feel very fortunate for this valuable partnership with the exceptional MRC team and the opportunity to continue the legacy of these tremendous brands for the next many decades."

Added MRC CEOs Asif Satchu and Modi Wiczyk: "We have a great deal of respect for Variety, Rolling Stone and Music Business Worldwide and, as importantly, the leadership at PMC who we’ve gotten to know well and look forward to partnering with in both these businesses."

The deal comes amid heavy losses at MRC (recently rebranded from Valence Media). In April, THR editor Matt Belloni stepped down right before the company conducted a steep round of layoffs at the trade pub. 

THR had been losing as much as $30 million a year, according to some reports. 

THR, Billboard, Adweek, Dick Clark Productions and Mediabistro was spun off in 2015 by Guggenheim Partners and put under the control of Guggenheim President Todd Boehy, who now serves as chairman of all those brands. 

The assets were combined in 2018, along with production company Media Rights Capital, under the moniker Valence Media, which is led by Satchu and Wicyk. Earlier this year, Valence was rebranded into MRC. 

AMC and IFC will bring back its variety show Sherman’s Showcase for a second season, the networks said Wednesday.

The series, which stars Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle, features sketches, cultural nostalgia and original songs, according to AMC.

IFC this Friday will air the Sherman’s Showcase Black History Month Spectacular, which will honor historic black icons both past and present, alongside superheroes, period dramas, vampires, and a very special re-imagining of the cult film The Last Dragon, said the networks.

“It's rare today for a show to develop a highly passionate fanbase, get raves from critics and infiltrate popular culture, said Sarah Barnett, president of AMC Networks Entertainment Group and AMC Studios. “Sherman's Showcase has done all three and we’re thrilled to put it in front of AMC audiences alongside IFC’s devoted fans. Bashir and Diallo are fantastically talented, we are all waiting with baited breath to collectively witness the continued evolution of Sherman McDaniels, American icon."