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More love for music subscriptions

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Streaming Music Rev

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Digital Media Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.

iHeartRadio launched a new music-subscription service yesterday, with multiple tiers for increasing sets of features.

The first tier costs $5 per month, allowing users to replay and skip songs, and listen offline. The second costs $10 per month and provides a full on-demand suite of songs, similar to Spotify.

Both plans are ad-free. Radio providers and music streaming services are increasingly offering subscription packages to supplement ad-supported listening. The company’s parent, iHeart, operates the largest terrestrial radio network in the US, and although they don’t break out digital listeners, it’s monthly terrestrial audience rounds out at more than 250 million listeners. Here’s why the launch is important for the music streaming industry:

  • Subscriptions are the future of online music. It seems inevitable that every music streaming service will eventually offer a premium subscription tier. Music subscriptions will account for 78% of total US streaming music revenue in 2020, compared with 67% in 2016, according to a recent study from Activate.  
  • Subscription growth will outpace ad-supported models over the next four years.Total streaming music revenue will reach $6.5 billion in 2020, advancing at a four-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17%. This will be largely driven by subscription services revenue, which is set to increase at a CAGR of 22%, while ad-supported revenue will grow at a 5% CAGR.
  • Unique features will keep subscriber sticky. As vast song libraries are becoming ubiquitous among online streamers, unique features are becoming more important to users. According to Activate, personalized playlists, recommendations, slick user interfaces, and other enhancements that reduce friction (i.e. voice integration) will likely be the features that retain users and attract new ones.
  • iHeartRadio needs a differentiating feature. The $10 plan allows users to create playlists and music libraries, a common feature of online streamers. The company is banking on discoverability to set apart from competition, but this may not be enough as listeners can already discover new songs via curated playlists from companies like Pandora or Spotify.

While the launch is the next logical step in the company’s digital strategy, they are fighting an uphill battle. Music streamers are beefing up capabilities and iHeartRadio will need to follow suit. One such example is Spotify’s new “Spotify Singles,” which features original live recordings and cover songs by popular artists. 

Many digital media companies have embraced monthly and annual subscriptions. This business model allows digital media companies to provide a premium experience that offers more than the basic, often ad-supported service level.

Subscriptions are enjoying a new prominence as a revenue model for digital content and apps. Internet companies are exploiting the opportunity to boost ARPU (average revenue per user), thanks to recurring payments from a subscriber base.

BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on subscription revenue that looks at how prominent players in five separate categories have tried to build a subscription-based revenue stream alongside ad-based businesses: the categories are video, music, news publishing, social networks/messaging, and dating apps.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

  • Most companies operate on a "freemium model." Subscriptions typically operate alongside an advertising business.
  • Success in freemium boils down to offering a core audience exclusive value that can only be accessed beyond a paywall. The key is to target the most loyal audiences, and sell them on an expanded offering — bundles of features or content — that they find irresistible.
  • Some publishers and apps have had mixed results with subscriptions, and vary in terms of how hard they have pushed them. Part of the problem is that ad-dependent companies are worried about limiting audience if they pack away too much value into a subscription tier.
  • The proportion of paying subscribers within the total user base varies considerably across digital media industries. Each category is obviously different, and won't face the same challenges and opportunities in dialing up the percentage of subscribers and subscription revenue. Here are some of the proportions of subscribers in apps' user bases: Spotify (25%), WhatsApp (21%), Pandora (5%), Match Group (5%), The New York Times (3%), and LinkedIn (2%).

In full, the report:

  • Analyzes the most common subscription-based digital media revenue models
  • Explores the drivers that allows some subscription or freemium business models succeed
  • Explains the revenue mix and business opportunity in several key digital media industries
  • Outlines companies that have succeeded with subscription-based business models

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

  1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
  2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of subscription revenue models.

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Amy Schumer is in talks to play Barbie for a new movie

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amy schumer

One of the biggest comedians in the business may be playing the most recognizable doll in the world. 

Amy Schumer is in talks to play Barbie in a live-action movie based on the toy for Sony, according to TheWrap

TV writer Hillary Winston is the latest screenwriter to take a shot at the project, which producers Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald led to secure the rights from toy manufacturer Mattel in 2014. But according to TheWrap, Schumer and her sister, Kim Caramele, will rewrite the script. 

The project currently does not have a director attached. 

"Barbie" is the figurehead of the Mattel dolls. The company has sold over a billion iterations of her in the last 50 years.

SEE ALSO: The 7 most shocking Scientology allegations we learned from Leah Remini's new show

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NOW WATCH: Watch the trailer for the new Martin Scorsese film that took over 20 years to make

The 5 best new songs you can stream right now

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j coleNow that new music comes out every Friday — though not always on every streaming service — it can be hard to know where to find the next great song.

To help you out, Business Insider compiles this rundown of the best new music you can stream right now.

This week, J. Cole seemed to diss Kanye West in a new song, and the Rolling Stones released a spirited blues cover album. 

Check out this week's best new songs:

SEE ALSO: The best new songs to stream: A Tribe Called Quest, Childish Cambino

J. Cole — "False Prophets"

J. Cole released a 40-minute documentary in anticipation of his upcoming album, "4 Your Eyez Only" (due out December 9). In one of the featured songs, "False Prophets," Cole seems to sharply address Kanye West, his former "hero" who he thinks is "falling apart but we deny it," over a recycled Joey Bada$$ beat.   

Listen to the song at the 30:40 mark in the doc below:

RAW Embed



Childish Gambino — "Have Some Love"

Aside from its two previously released singles, "Have Some Love" is the sole standout from "Awaken, My Love!" a largely lackluster new album by Childish Gambino (Donald Glover). The uplifting track finds Glover playing the lead in a Sly and the Family Stone-style soul anthem. 

RAW Embed



Run the Jewels — "Legend Has It"

Killer Mike and El-P return with their signature intense verses and eccentric production on the lead single for their forthcoming, third "Run the Jewels" album. 

RAW Embed



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Don't be afraid to cancel cable — here's how to watch all of your favorite shows for less than $42 a month

How a struggling actor became one of the hottest Oscar contenders of 2016

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Hell or High Water CBS Films

When Taylor Sheridan was 11 years old, he caught a wicked case of pneumonia that left him bedridden for weeks and unable to enjoy the 200 acres he lived on in the small North Texas community of Bosque County, just an hour west of Waco.

Though he looks back on his childhood fondly, being sick and stuck with nothing to do but watch the three channels on his TV set was the foundation for what he does today.

"I watched a lot of old movies," Sheridan, 47, recently told Business Insider of that time. "Clint Eastwood movies, a lot of John Wayne films, a lot of movies that celebrated the region of where I lived. Soon after, we finally got cable, and the whole world opened up."

Sheridan's meteoric rise as one of the top screenwriters working in Hollywood — thanks to his acclaimed scripts in the last two years, "Sicario" and "Hell or High Water" — is unique.

Taylor Sheridan Tommaso Boddi GettyAfter spending over 20 years as a struggling actor, he finally landed a steady role playing Deputy Chief David Hale for three seasons on "Sons of Anarchy." But when it came time to renegotiate his contract in 2010, Sheridan found himself at a crossroads.

"They had one idea about what I was worth, and I had a very different idea," he said.

The grind to make a living as an actor had delivered its death blow. Fed up with making the weekly salary rate for "Sons of Anarchy" — which after taxes and paying his agent wasn't enough for him to make a living, so he had to also teach evening acting classes to pay rent — and with a baby on the way, Sheridan saw the negotiations as a wake-up call.

"How can you tell your kid you can be anything you want to be if you're not trying to do the same?" he said. "I imagine myself being 40-something years old and I can't go to his baseball game because I got a Windex commercial or something."

So Sheridan quit "Sons of Anarchy" — and acting.

This is when Taylor Sheridan's career in show business could have ended.

Not wanting to raise his child in a big city like Los Angeles, he moved his family to Wyoming, where he interviewed for a ranch manager job.

"I was going to be the head wrangler at a ranch in Wyoming, and the reason I didn't take the job is because I couldn't have my family there — the family had to stay in town," Sheridan said. "I just wasn't willing to do that."

Instead, Sheridan took up screenwriting.

"I just sat down and thought, 'I don't know how to do this, but I've read 10,000 scripts in my life and most of them were not very good, so if I just don't do all the things that bothered me as an actor it will probably turn out OK,'" he said.

sicario bluntHis first script was "Sicario," a thriller he wrote on spec that's set on the US-Mexico border and follows an idealistic FBI agent who is brought in to help take down the Mexican cartels, but instead finds she's the pawn in a plot of a CIA officer to take control of one of the cartels by having its leader assassinated.

"I didn't expect the movie to ever be made," Sheridan said. "Every writer has written a spec. It's the first thing you write, and it basically stands as a means of 'here's an example of how I tell stories.' It's almost like a business card.

"So 'Sicario' essentially was that. You dream it will be made. You hope. But realistically you can't care."

Sheridan threw the script in the drawer and wrote a script that would be easier to sell: "Hell or High Water," then titled "Comancheria."

Like "Sicario," it would explore Sheridan's fascination with the modern-day American frontier. But this time he wrote something closer to home. He used a crime caper to examine the impoverished West Texas towns he came across when visiting family in Orchard City a few years ago.

"I was driving by empty house after empty house — it was just abandoned. And this one place that I think had the best hamburgers in America was gone," he said. "The idea of all these places being gone, and then there was this terrible drought, it just became natural that I wanted to explore that."

He set the story around two brothers who decide to embark on an ingenious bank-robbing spree to save their family ranch, which is a victim of the mortgage crisis.

Though "Hell or High Water" sold first, ironically it was "Sicario" that got to theaters first, thanks in part to top talent like Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro.

But "Hell or High Water" could lead to Sheridan receiving Oscar gold.

Released this summer among the dead weight of bloated sequels and failed blockbusters, the movie instantly built a following and Oscar hype for Sheridan. Chris Pine and Ben Foster are incredible as the brothers, while Jeff Bridges gives one of his best performances in years — which might also land him an Oscar — playing the Texas Ranger who is on their trail.

In both "Sicario" and "Hell or High Water," Sheridan displays a gift of telling original stories through genres in which we think we've seen it all. And though in "Sicario" the story is extremely clever, in some ways the visionary skills of director Denis Villeneuve ("Arrival") and cinematographer Roger Deakins are what you remember most when you walk out of the theater.

Hell or High Water CBS FilmsIn "Hell or High Water," director David Mackenzie lets Sheridan shine — especially his dialogue, which is some of the best you'll get all year.

Sheridan's success seems even more remarkable when he admits that the finished scripts for both "Sicario" and "Hell or High Water" were first drafts. Asked how this is even possible, Sheridan goes back to his former career.

"What I did as an actor, I was the guest star, I was the 10th banana on the series. My job was to push exposition. I was the one that shoveled the implausible parts of the scripts. That was my job," he said. "So for me, it was very easy on the page to see if I tried something and it didn't work. For me, structurally it needs to be seamless. I'm not someone who puts the whole thing down and goes back to fix. I want it perfect as I go."

Sheridan has completed the script for the "Sicario" sequel, "Soldado," which will come out next year with Josh Brolin returning as the CIA agent and Del Toro as the assassin. And he's finishing up his directorial debut, "Wind River," the conclusion of his American frontier trilogy, which will also open in 2017.

Starring Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, and Jon Bernthal, it looks at a murder at a Native American reservation.

"There's a theme that exists in all three of these movies, which is failure of a father, and that theme is explored in its most acute sense in this one," he said. "I don't want to say resolved, but I was really fascinated by how someone moves on from a tragedy without ever getting closure."

Sheridan is aware of the importance of "Wind River." "Sicario" put him on the map, and "Hell or High Water" could earn him an Oscar, but it will be his work in the director's chair that will prove if he can go forward telling his stories through his own lens.

"I was lucky with Denis and David. They were very protective of the scripts," Sheridan said. "But with 'Wind River' I got to do exactly what I wanted to do. If that one doesn't work, there's no pointing the finger at anyone but me."

SEE ALSO: The best movies and TV shows coming to iTunes, Amazon, and more in December

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NOW WATCH: 10 details you may have missed in episode 8 of 'Westworld'

Here's the diet and workout routine LeBron James uses to stay in insane shape

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Business Insider's US Editor-In-Chief, Alyson Shontell, sat down with LeBron James as he reveals what he eats on game days. 

Unlike the thousands of calories swimmer Michael Phelps eats to train, LeBron James sticks to a pretty healthy diet.

"Before competition for me would be like a chicken breast and maybe a little pasta. The carbs help because you're going out and playing a lot of minutes," James told Business Insider. "But a salad and some veggies will have me perfectly fine. And before the game I might have a protein shake and some fruit, and I'll be ready to go. But as far as pies or pizza and sandwiches and french fries — I can't. I'll wait for that after the game. I can't do that before the game."

As for his workout schedule, James says he works out about 5 days a week in the off-season and 7 days per week when basketball starts back up.

James likes to mix up the way he exercises and throws in a few classes on top of traditional gym workouts.

"My workout regimen is pretty much five times a week, every day. And it varies," James told Business Insider. "Sometimes I stay at home and work out. Sometimes I'll go to an actual class. I've been to, like, VersaClimber classes, or spinning classes. I do pilates as well. So, it kind of varies depending on how I'm feeling. 

"During the season, we're playing basketball every single day, and we're working on our bodies every day. So I don't get the opportunity to do the classes as much because we're doing a lot of traveling. But my workout regimen is pretty consistent then as well. It's mostly seven days a week during the season because we play games on the weekend."

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Stop whatever you're doing and watch this new 'Zelda' trailer

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Nintendo's next big game may be an iPhone exclusive, but that doesn't mean the Japanese gaming giant is walking away from blockbusters on home consoles. 

2017's "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" is testament to that focus.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The upcoming third-person action-adventure game is scheduled for a 2017 launch — and it's coming to both Nintendo's Wii U and its new Switch console. That said, while the new Zelda game was originally planned for a simultaneous launch on both consoles, it sounds like the game won't be ready in time for the Switch launch in March 2017.

All that aside, a wealth of new footage of the game was published this week by Nintendo.

The image above is from a short new trailer, which teases a more active role for the series' perennial damsel-in-distress, Princess Zelda. Toward the end of the trailer, Link is seen kneeling behind her as her hand forms a fist:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

That's a new spin for a series that's notorious for the same characters playing the same roles time and time again. 

Whether or not that's the case, creative lead Eiji Aonuma has repeatedly stated an intention to take the decades-old franchise in a new direction. To that end, "Breath of the Wild" has a massive open environment — think "Grand Theft Auto," but set in a fantasy world and much more kid-friendly. 

Some of the game's massive environment is depicted in the latest trailer:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

And look at this view!

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The full gameplay trailer is right here:

But if you're really looking for a tour, Nintendo's published its own Let's Play video this week showcasing far more of the game. Check it out right here:

SEE ALSO: The new 'Legend of Zelda' game footage shows off some of Link's new toys

DON'T MISS: The new 'Zelda' game reportedly won't launch alongside the new Nintendo console

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NOW WATCH: Nintendo just showed off the Nintendo Switch — an entirely new console

Here's every actress who's played Jackie Kennedy in movies and TV

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NataliePortman Jackie TIFFPlaying America’s most popular First Lady has been a regular job for many of Hollywood’s leading ladies. Natalie Portman is the latest actress to try on one of Jackie Kennedy's pillbox hats in the critically acclaimed new biopic “Jackie,” out Friday — and she certainly won’t be the last. 

From Jaclyn Smith and Ginnifer Goodwin to Katie Holmes, here are all the women who have played the classy Jackie O on the screen:

SEE ALSO: The 30 best movie endings of all time, ranked

Jaclyn Smith in "Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy"

In 1981 Smith fashioned Kennedy's famous pink attire in the Golden Globe-nominated biopic. The TV movie follows Jackie O's years working at a DC newspaper to her life in the White House with JFK. 



Sarah Michelle Gellar in "A Woman Named Jackie"

Long before she slayed vampires on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Gellar played a young Jacqueline Bouvier in the 1991 award-winning TV movie. 



Jill Hennessy in "Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot"

Nominated for three Emmys, "The Women of Camelot" set out to expose what really went on in the private lives of the Kennedy women. 



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8 times the 'Westworld' TV show referenced the 1973 'Westworld' movie

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HBO's "Westworld" may be wrapping up its first season, but if you're still in the mood for humanoid robot mayhem you can check out the original 1973 film the series upon which the series was based. There are actually quite a few similarities between the two and some Easter eggs that were snuck into the show. Here's a look at some of the major things we noticed after watching both.

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Marvel just dropped the first full trailer for 'Guardians of the Galaxy 2' — and it looks amazing

Trump tweets 'SNL' is 'unwatchable' after its sketch about his tweets

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donald trump kellyanne conway snl nbc

President-elect Donald Trump bashed NBC's "Saturday Night Live" on Twitter after the show aired a sketch about his rampant tweeting.

Alec Baldwin returned to portray Trump on the opening sketch for Saturday's episode. It portrayed Trump along with some aides, including Kate McKinnon playing Trump's campaign manager and senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, trying to tear Trump's attention away from Twitter for a security briefing.

At one point in the sketch, McKinnon's Conway defends Trump's tweets, saying, "There is a reason, actually, that Donald tweets so much. He does it to distract the media from his business conflicts and all the very scary people in his cabinet."

"Actually, that's not why I do it," Baldwin's Trump responded. "I do it because my brain is bad."

The sketch evidently didn't sit well with president-elect Trump, who tweeted just after midnight that the show was "unwatchable" and "biased."

"Just tried watching 'Saturday Night Live' - unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Baldwin impersonation just can't get any worse. Sad," Trump tweeted.

It wasn't the first time Trump has critiqued the show on Twitter. In late November, he also tweeted that it was "unwatchable" and not "funny at all." And in October, he called the show "boring and unfunny" and said Baldwin's impersonation of him "stinks."

In light of Trump's newest comments on "SNL" being "biased," it's worth noting that the sketch show had Trump on as a host for an entire episode during the primary race in November 2015. It was a controversial move since NBC had previously said it was cutting ties with the real-estate mogul.

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton appeared on just one sketch the previous month.

Watch "SNL" mock Trump's Twitter use below:

SEE ALSO: 'It is a totally one-sided, biased show': Trump finds 'SNL' not 'funny at all'

DON'T MISS: 'SNL' host Dave Chappelle and surprise guest Chris Rock give their hilarious take on election night

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NOW WATCH: Donald Trump's 'strange' morning habit tells you everything you need to know about him

Here are all the major clues in 'Westworld' that hint to the identity of the 'Man in Black'

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One of the biggest mysteries on HBO's "Westworld" is the Man in Black. The character, played by Ed Harris, has been going to the park for over 30 years and is on a hunt to find the center of the maze by any means necessary. While he is a violent man, it would appear that there is much more going on with him than you might think. Here are some of the major clues that the show has dropped throughout season 1 that point to his true identity. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

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Here’s what US music listeners voted for in 2016 — the favorite radio songs of the year state-by-state

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drakeRadio giant iHeartMedia, which controls over 850 radio stations, is the biggest US player in deciding what songs make their way to you over the airwaves.

But with the rise of the smartphone, and devices other than traditional radio, it also has a better sense of which of those songs you actually like. If you listen to iHeartMedia's programming through an app, you have the ability to give a song a "thumbs up" (similar to what you can do on Pandora).

So which songs were the most popular in 2016?

iHeartMedia pulled data from across all its supported devices to see which songs were "thumbed-up" the most in 2016. For people up to 34 years of age, Drake's "One Dance" took the top spot. From ages 35-44, it was "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran, and above that, it was the classic "Hotel California" by the Eagles. 

iHeartMedia's data team also broke the data down by state. Drake ruled the day, owning 26 states, with two separate songs that took the top spot in different places. Twenty One Pilots also had a strong showing with a dozen states.

In all, seven songs managed to sit on the throne in various states. Here's the list:

  • "Stressed Out" by Twenty One Pilots
  • "One Dance" by Drake
  • "Jumpman" by Drake and Future
  • "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran
  • "My House" by Flo Rida
  • "2 Phones" by Kevin Gates
  • "The Sound of Silence" by Disturbed

And here is the full data for each state, if you want to see what your state chose:

Top thumbed song state-by-state

AK: "Stressed Out"
AL: "Jumpman"
AR: "Thinking Out Loud"
AZ: "One Dance"
CA: "One Dance"
CO: "Stressed Out"
CT: "One Dance"
DC: "One Dance"
DE: "One Dance"
FL: "One Dance"
GA: "Jumpman"
HI: "Thinking Out Loud"
IA: "My House"
ID: "Stressed Out"
IL: "One Dance"
IN: "Jumpman"
KS: "Stressed Out"
KY: "Stressed Out"
LA: "2 Phones"
MA: "One Dance"
MD: "One Dance"
ME: "The Sound of Silence"
MI: "Jumpman"
MN: "My House"
MO: "Jumpman"
MS: "2 Phones"
MT: "Thinking Out Loud"
NC: "One Dance"
ND: "The Sound of Silence"
NE: "My House"
NH: "The Sound of Silence"
NJ: "One Dance"
NM: "One Dance"
NV: "One Dance"
NY: "One Dance"
OH: "Stressed Out"
OK: "Stressed Out"
OR: "Stressed Out"
PA: "One Dance"
RI: "One Dance"
SC: "Jumpman"
SD: "Stressed Out"
TN: "Jumpman"
TX: "One Dance"
UT: "Stressed Out"
VA: "One Dance"
VT: "The Sound of Silence"
WA: "One Dance"
WI: "My House"
WV: "Stressed Out"
WY: "Stressed Out"

SEE ALSO: The biggest radio powerhouse in the US just took aim at Apple and Spotify with a new service

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NOW WATCH: The way you write l, t, i, and y reveals a lot about your personality

Psychiatrists studied 400 movies to find the most realistic psychopath

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As frightening as movie psychopaths like Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter appear on the big screen, turns out they may not be as realistic compared to their real-life counterparts. In 2013, Belgian psychiatrists watched over 400 movies to decide which fictional psychopath are based in reality and which ones were pure fiction.

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'Moana' easily wins at the box office for a second straight weekend

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disney moana review 8

Disney's "Moana" easily won the domestic box office for a second straight weekend with an estimated $28.4 million take, according to Variety.

The movie surpassed the $100 million global landmark on Saturday, cementing it as another box office winner for Disney in 2016. 

With no new wide releases out this weekend, the closest thing to competition was Warner Bros. holdover "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," which came in second with $18.5 million.

Hollywood will be relying on these two titles to continue bringing in some kind of respectable coin at the box office for another week before "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" opens in theaters on December 16. In the meantime the only big opening before then will be the adult comedy "Office Christmas Party," which isn't expected to have a huge opening.   

SEE ALSO: Here are the top 50 movies of the year, according to Google

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NOW WATCH: 10 details you may have missed in episode 8 of 'Westworld'


7 details you may have missed on episode 9 of 'Westworld'

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The second to last episode of season 1 of "Westworld" had some big reveals for fans and hinted towards an even bigger reveal in the finale. There were several throwbacks to some scenes in the premiere and even a subtle reference to a popular Michael Crichton film that you might not have even noticed. Here's a look at some of the details you may have missed in episode 9.

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Here's the real cost of the '12 days of Christmas'

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12 days of christmas

Your true love will need to raise his or her budget for your Christmas gifts this year.

PNC released its annual Christmas Price Index on Friday, and it showed that prices for items from the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" rose by 0.7% from last year. That's slightly up from the 0.6% pace in 2015.

The cost of everything on the list, from the partridge to the drummers, totaled $34,363.49, an increase of a few hundred dollars from last year. The "core" index, excluding volatile swan prices, rose 1.1% to $21,238.49.

But as the carol goes, all of the gifts except the drummers are counted multiple times, bringing the cost up to $156,507.88.

PNC has published this index for over 30 years based on current prices of the 12 gifts in the carol.

It does it in part to entertain its clients, and you, as things slow down over the holidays. It doesn't expect this to be taken too seriously.

But the index is based on prices of the real items. For example, prices for geese are sourced from a waterfowl farm, and PNC asks a nursery in New Jersey for the cost of pear trees.

PNC found that it was mainly a scarcity of turtledoves that drove the cost of Christmas higher. Wage growth across the economy made pipers and drummers more expensive. Though it has been a wild year for gold, the price of gold rings held steady.

Here's PNC's full breakdown of the 12 days. You can check out a fun infographic here.

Screen Shot 2016 12 02 at 9.32.52 AMThe real economic data in fact shows inflation pressures both within and outside the US. Commodity prices are moving back up after tumbling during the past few years; earlier this week, a deal by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to limit oil production lifted prices back above $50 a barrel.

Also, the US is getting some wage inflation. Average hourly earnings rose in October at the fastest annualized rate since the recession. Though the November report released Friday showed a pullback, the trend has crept higher this year.

And, of course, the 12 days of Christmas are more expensive this year.

SEE ALSO: The unofficial Goldman Sachs gift guide for 2016

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NOW WATCH: Watch the 2016 John Lewis Christmas advert

The first trailer for Tom Cruise's reboot of 'The Mummy' is here

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tom cruise

"The Mummy" is getting a giant reboot next summer starring Tom Cruise and Universal has released the first full trailer for the the film.

It looks like it's "Mission Impossible" meets the popular horror franchise as we see Cruise swimming underwater, in a plane, and come out of a zipped bag in, what appears to be, a morgue.

Here's the full synopsis from Universal:

"Thought safely entombed in a tomb deep beneath the unforgiving desert, an ancient princess whose destiny was unjustly taken from her is awakened in our current day, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia and terrors that defy human comprehension.

From the sweeping sands of the Middle East through hidden labyrinths under modern-day London, The Mummy brings a surprising intensity and balance of wonder and thrills in an imaginative new take that ushers in a new world of gods and monsters.

Cruise will star alongside Annabelle Wallis ("Peaky Blinders"), Jake Johnson ("Jurassic World"), and Russell Crowe. Sofia Boutella "Kingsman: The Secret Service" will star as the ancient princess in the new film. 

"The Mummy" will be in theaters June 9, 2017.

Watch the trailer below:

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Alec Baldwin offers to end his 'SNL' Trump parody: 'Release your tax returns and I'll stop'

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The latest episode of "Saturday Night Live" opened with Alec Baldwin continuing to impersonate President-elect Donald Trump in a sketch, mocking Trump's use of Twitter.

At one point "SNL" cast member Kate McKinnon, impersonating Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, defended Trump's tweeting habits, saying: "There is a reason, actually, that Donald tweets so much. He does it to distract the media from his business conflicts and all the very scary people in his Cabinet."

"Actually, that's not why I do it," Baldwin's Trump responded. "I do it because my brain is bad."

Though the sketch got a lot of laughs, someone who wasn't laughing was Trump, who tweeted on Saturday night that Baldwin's impersonation of him "can't get any worse."

Baldwin then responded to Trump's tweet, telling him, "Release your tax returns and I'll stop."

Trump has said publicly in the past that he will release his tax returns when the IRS is through with its audit of him.

Watch the "SNL" sketch below:

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RANKED: 7 beloved shows Netflix has brought back from the dead, from best to worst

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Netflix has been doing nostalgia better than just about anyone recently.

As Netflix has leaned into making its own shows, a big piece of its strategy has been reviving fan favorites like "Full House," "Arrested Development," and "Gilmore Girls." This summer, Netflix also released smash hit "Stranger Things," a supernatural sci-fi thriller that draws heavily from '80s movies and TV.

Given Netflix's love of data, this commitment to nostalgia makes sense.

If you can see that people keep binge-watching "Gilmore Girls" over and over again, why not make a new series? You already know there's an audience for it. (That seems to have translated into viewership, at least for the "Gilmore Girls" and "Full House" revivals).

But are these revivals any good? To try and answer that question, we turned to reviews aggregator Metacritic, and looked at what the critics had to say. Here's a list of shows Netflix has brought back from the dead, ranked from worst to best critical reception, along with a short description (we excluded kids' shows). 

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7. 'Fuller House' — 35/100

Critic rating: 35/100

Audience rating: 6.4/10

Previous network: ABC

Netflix description: "The Tanner family's adventures continue as DJ Tanner-Fuller shares a home with her sister Stephanie and friend Kimmy who help raise her three boys."



6. 'The Killing' (Season 4) — 53/100

Critic rating: 53/100

Audience rating: 8.0/10

Previous network: AMC

Netflix description: "Seattle homicide detectives Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder are deeply affected by the murders they investigate in this dark, acclaimed crime series."



5. 'Arrested Development' (Season 4) — 72/100

Critic rating: 72/100

Audience rating: 8.2/10

Previous network: Fox

Netflix description: "It's the Emmy-winning story of a wealthy family that lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together."



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