110 episodes
The Ankler Podcast TheAnkler.com
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- Business
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4.0 • 60 Ratings
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Listen in as The Ankler team and industry insiders break down Hollywood’s latest business headlines, power struggles and trends shaping the future of entertainment.
theankler.com
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The Paramount Soap Opera
There’s plenty of worry about AI writing scripts . . . but let’s see AI come up with a story about two billionaire families negotiating a complex sale of an iconic, troubled entertainment conglomerate — and wreaking havoc in their wake. Sean McNulty and David Lidsky weigh just what David Ellison’s buying, why every shareholder not named Shari Redstone is mad and what AI has to do with it. Speaking of, Sean welcomes producer Erik Barmack to discuss his new Reel AI newsletter for The Ankler and how the technology can be a “cheat code” in script coverage. Also: Elaine Low on laid-off execs starting their own companies, and Richard Rushfield from CinemaCon.
Also, we’ve been nominated for a Webby Award, vote for us here by April 18th!
For more entertainment news, subscribe to The Ankler here.
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How Ari & Iger Outfoxed Wall St.
When Endeavor went public in 2021, the agency pulled out all the stops to present itself as innovators and a disruptor — the kind of terminology Wall Street loves from tech companies. But, as it often goes with the media companies that try the same tack, “investors never fully bought it,” says David Lidsky, who joins to evaluate Endeavor’s recent decision to go private again. Also: Sean McNulty and Elaine Low discuss the culmination of Disney’s proxy war, and Peter Kiefer joins to break down his story on Silicon Valley’s new ideology around AI and why Hollywood should pay attention.
Also, we’ve been nominated for a Webby Award, vote for us here by April 18th!
Transcript here. For more entertainment news, subscribe to The Ankler here.
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UTA vs. the Talented Mr. Kassan
Hollywood is filled with, er, colorful personalities. The one of the moment: Michael Kassan, the former MediaLink connector-in-chief now in dueling lawsuits with UTA. David Lidsky joins to reveal The Ankler’s investigative reporting into Kassan’s curious legal and financial history, including a $3.3m IRS tax lien taken out on his Beverly Hills home the week before he went to war with UTA. Also: Elaine Low on TV workers’ struggles as unemployment outpaces series cutbacks, and Richard Rushfield on the current studio merger landscape.
Transcript here. For more entertainment news, subscribe to The Ankler here.
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Wall Street's War on Hollywood
Wall Street likes surefire bets — growth companies that deliver predictable returns for infinite quarters. But in Hollywood, “you’re in the failure game,” says Richard Rushfield. Yet when the alchemy works, hits power the industry. Still studio leaders are mired in machinations to appease investors, often with disastrous results: a studio for sale (Paramount); activist investors (Disney); and open jobs at Netflix and NBCU that have almost nothing to do with creativity. Despite it all, when Sean McNulty and crew evaluate the upcoming box-office slate, they find cause for hope. After all, Ankler Rule No. 1: this is a business of hits.
Transcript here. For more entertainment news, subscribe to The Ankler here.
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Disney, WBD and Hollywood's Jobs Shift
One of the most plum jobs in entertainment historically has been that of the creative exec. But now, with data informing programming choices more than ever, and advertisers hungry for user information, Elaine Low examines how the job market is revealing those shifted priorities through the lens of the two most storied legacy studios, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery (while sharing a peek at Amazon Studios). Meanwhile, Sean McNulty lays out the current streaming advertising landscape, and Richard Rushfield opines on the lingering puzzles from the Oscars.
Transcript here. For more entertainment news, subscribe to The Ankler here.
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Netflix's New Sports Playbook
Richard Rushfield assessed the State of the Industry this week, and we have questions: Why is there reason for hope? Why is Netflix suddenly so into sports? What are its live TV ambitions? Is there really no superhero fatigue? Or do we just need better superhero movies, as Disney's Bob Iger says? Will the Oscar telecast be less than four hours? And will anyone watch? As always, Sean McNulty and Elaine Low join Richard to answer these questions and more, including perhaps the biggest one of all: Who will Richard be wearing at the Academy Awards on Sunday?
Transcript here. For more entertainment news, subscribe to The Ankler here.
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Customer Reviews
Just discovered this podcast-
Love it!
Julie Anne
Not worth the listen
I don’t understand the point of this podcast. They just seem to reference that you should read their articles online but don’t actually discuss anything of substance or give you any new info. Waste of time.
What an absolutely unhinged show
Came to this podcast for an episode titled “what the heck is undeniable TV?” Instead of remotely addressing that question (absolutely zero insights), they brought on an “expert” who tried to discuss the state of the Democratic Party and in doing so said there is NO SUCH THING as Islamophobia - just antisemitism - and that the “problem” is that the left fails to denounce terrorism. Really? That’s the problem? Not that a live-streamed gen0cide is occurring before our eyes, sponsored by Joe Biden and his goons, and that millions upon millions of people are watching it? The “expert” went on to cite destruction of private property (flags) in New York as a huge problem to be cracked down on, all as Isr@el is literally flattening the majority of buildings of G@za along with their inhabitants, the rest of whom are starving to death. This is exactly why democrats are going to lose in 2024. Oh yeah she also said the most interesting thing about AOC is her lipstick. Get rid of “strategists” like these. Republicans can have them. They’re completely out of touch with reality. Do better.