From KCRW in Santa Monica, I'm Claude Brodesser Ackner, and this is The Business.

So you still want to do the show business, and you think that you got what it takes?

I mean, you really got a rap and be all at.

But prepare yourself for the brakes, check it out.

This week on the business, a major studio is getting out of the indie business.

And one stalwart indie distributor is rumored to be having serious money problems.

Not only that, but the two indie film TV channels are now owned by the same corporate parent.

Is Hollywood giving indie the bums rush more?

We'll talk to esteemed indie producer Christine Vichon and Uber salesman, John Sloss.

Plus, Hollywood on the couch, Part 2, with writer-turned therapist, Dennis Palumbo.

But first, it's the Hollywood News Caravan.

Go nowhere, it's the business from NPR.

TheR.

The... Sales of shrimp and cocktail sauce are reported to have declined sharply in the recent weeks,

as TV networks scale back they're usually extravagant up-front sales cavalcades. The upfronts

are the bizarre, where $9 billion worth of advertising gets sold to sponsors who are in turn

bedazzled by a bevy of new shows, rolled out amidst fanfare, stars, and of course, pricey

finger foods. But ratings for broadcast television are down by about 15% compared with last season. So, instead of the usual

lavish affairs, ABC held a demure sales meeting, and NBC Universal put on what the LA Times

described as a, quote, more trade show-like expo experience. It sounds more like a plumber's

convention than a glamorous showbiz

event. You'd think we just had a strike and another one looming. Oh, wait, we did, and there is.

...