Stay Connected“Ankler Agenda” breaks down the headlines, trends and creativity shaping the evolution of Hollywood, the creator economy and entertainment.
The show is hosted by Elaine Low, author of Ankler Media’s popular “Series Business” Substack newsletter, who is joined weekly by her colleagues Sean McNulty (“The Wakeup”) and Natalie Jarvey (“Like & Subscribe”) — in addition to Richard Rushfield, the Ankler himself. Episodes will also be available every Thursday on YouTube.
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In a special Strikegeist episode, Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield join Sean McNulty to report back what they are seeing and hearing (and the who’s who) at the picket lines across town. “Upbeat but not combative,” says Rushfield, who took in the scene outside Paramount. Also: why a short-term resolution doesn’t seem likely (10:36); takeaways from Elaine’s interview with WGA lead negotiator Ellen Stutzman (11:24); awkwardness surrounding FYC events (22:18); and why AI has more than just writers worried (13:21).
For by-the-minute coverage of the WGA strike, please subscribe to our free Strikegeist newsletter. And if you enjoy this podcast, please click here to subscribe.
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If the theme of last year’s CinemaCon was “movies are back,” then this year’s is “movies are really back.” Richard Rushfield and Elaine Low join Sean McNulty to report what they saw during their three dizzying days at the Vegas pep rally.
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As Hollywood braces for a writers strike, one genre of television will remain unscathed: unscripted. But reality has its own pitfalls: recently Netflix juggernaut Love is Blind whiffed in its attempt to livestream its reunion episode. Today, Sean McNulty, Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield are joined by Insider’s Katie Warren, whose recent piece exposed horrifying work conditions on the show for contestants — a reminder of how inexpensive costs and inexperience make unscripted so budget-friendly to make. Also on tap: how the DGA is entangled in WGA negotiations (1:22), the migration of entertainment execs to the gaming world, as reported by Low (25:22), and what to expect at CinemaCon next week (38:21).
For a full transcript, click here.
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Sean McNulty and Elaine Low analyze what the co-CEOs said (and didn’t) in its Q1 earnings report about the strike, subscribers, the ad tier and passwords.
For a full transcript, click here.
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For the first time in 13 years, the iconic HBO moniker will not headline a platform as HBO Max becomes Max. Was the brand that snobby?
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Elaine Low and Sean McNulty discuss the implications of HBO Max's rebrand.
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Entertainment was once dominated by brash young executives (Barry Diller, Sherry Lansing, Dawn Steel and Robert Evans all ascended in their thirties). Now? Nearly every top job in town belongs to someone with decades (and decades) of experience. “When there’s a storm, you turn to the steady captain who’s been at the helm before,” says Peter Kiefer, whose piece about Hollywood’s Grey Ceiling — frustrating to those waiting their turns at top — got the town talking (15:11). Also: Endeavor’s potential for middle America domination with its WWE-UFC merger (5:48), confusion around Amazon’s streaming strategy (11:04), and the surprising lack of kids movies in theaters (39:18).
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Hollywood’s tectonic plates are continuing their steady shift, this time with Netflix’s decision to part ways with longtime film execs Lisa Nishimura and Ian Bricke. The move raises the broader question of what other senior-level anklings are coming, an issue Elaine Low hit on in her reporting on Hollywood’s new workplace culture: “It's making people question, ‘what am I doing with my career?’” (32:25) Also: Martini Shot host and OG WGA member Rob Long explains why he flip-flopped and now supports the Guild’s demands (1:08); how a strike could affect release strategies and content creation pipelines (17:54), Richard Rushfield’s apocalyptic vision of the streamers’ strike game plan (34:47); and why the team is split on an analyst’s new recommendation that Apple should buy Disney (43:57).
For a full transcript of this episode, click here.
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This is last in a series of conversations from NXStream Global, the March 8 summit from Advertising Week and The Ankler at UTA. The first three were with Tony Vinciquerra, Jeremy Zimmer and Rich Paul.
When Tom Ryan launched free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service Pluto TV in 2013, he defied the widely held belief that the future lay in on-demand, ad-free paid subscription services such as Netflix. Then, in 2019, he sold Pluto TV to Viacom for $340 million, becoming part of Paramount Global. “We've got the broadest possible content offering, and the broadest possible business model,” says Ryan. In conversation with Sean McNulty, Ryan, now president and CEO of Paramount Streaming, discusses the combination of Paramount’s assets with Pluto’s, now in 35 markets (8:54), the critical importance of “best of breed” partnerships around the globe for growth (16:57), and how Paramount+ added 10 million subscribers in Q4 — more than any other streamer (19:35).
For a full transcript of the conversation, click here.
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With a strike looming, will Apple, Amazon and Netflix decide to make real concessions.
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