It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas — unfortunately for showbiz.

The holiday shopping season that kicks off on Black Friday is likely to provide a fitting cap to a tumultuous year, with retail analysts predicting the worst showing in several decades.

Accounting and consulting firm BDO Seidman last week released a poll of execs taken after the economic meltdown began. It projects a 3 percent drop in overall holiday sales and anemic 1 percent growth on Black Friday compared with 8 percent growth a year ago.

Bright spots through New Year’s should include movie box office, Broadway grosses and cable TV ratings. The biz has coped with recessions before, but the longer ancillary tentacles of the entertainment sector have amplified its vulnerability to the traditional retail cash register.

–

Read the full

Variety

story.