Ankler Agenda

Netflix has released more than 45 films(!) so far in 2022, the majority of which are neither loved by critics nor audience, according to Rotten Tomatoes (and as analyzed film-by-film by host Sean McNulty). Not a single one of the other streamers and studios has reached the same average level of disapproval (for the record, everyone else combined have released a total of 86 films in the same time frame). McNulty, Janice Min and Richard Rushfield discuss the quantity vs. quality debate, and if it matters for Netflix, whose Q3 earnings showed subscriber growth. The trio discuss the opposite strategy in play by David Zaslav’s Warner Bros. Discovery (see: WBD: What’s the Plan column) and why (try to contain your excitement!) not all debt is created equal. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Netflix took a victory lap on Tuesday with its Q3 earnings report that revealed — surprise! —the company beat its revenue forecast (or, as host Sean McNulty likes to say, Netflix underpromised and overdelivered). In a special episode recorded at Advertising Week in New York, McNulty, Janice Min and Richard Rushfield break down the ad tier (9:00); the streamer’s 2.4 million subscriber growth stagnating in the U.S., but exploding in Asia (1:09); the company’s not-so-subtle roasting of its money-losing competition (5:35); the comeback of Ryan Murphy with Dahmer (6:52) and its dunk on House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power; the streamer’s theatrical plans for Glass Onion (12:26), and Netflix’s commitment to gaming but not sports (21:57). This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a potential WGA strike on the horizon, can the chasm between studios and angry writers be bridged? Hosts Sean McNulty, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel are joined by Martini Shot host (and WGA member) Rob Long to unpack the impending doom. “The Writers Guild continually strikes for a time machine and to go back and change the way [deals] were written,” notes Long. “‘If only I could go back and’ as we always say, kill Hitler.” The foursome also talk Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s questionable victory lap (38:55), David O. Russell’s very odd on-set antics (31:43); and Netflix’s never-say-never theatrical release of Glass Onion (5:27)Follow us (and like us!) wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and on Twitter. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Viewership for Hollywood awards shows is plummeting. Hosts Janice Min, Tatiana Siegel and Sean McNulty survey the rocky terrain that’s led to the Golden Globes’s shaky one-year NBC deal (far less than its once-$60 million a year license fee), and prompted the Academy’s new Hail Mary efforts to remake the Oscars (and red carpet) for ABC. “There’s no way now they’re getting $100 million a year [today],” McNulty says. In a season where Avatar 2, Steven Spielberg, Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis are in the mix, the shows are throwing everything against the wall to remain culturally relevant — with streamers likely their next home. The team also unpacks Amazon’s Thursday Night Football numbers (9:41), Apple Music’s Super Bowl steal (6:30), and Spielberg’s Toronto audience award with The Fabelmans (42:25). This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosts Janice Min, Richard Rushfield, Tatiana Siegel and Sean McNulty take stock of a new phenomenon on the festival circuit fest: the ever-shrinking and choreographed press conference (20:34). High-profile press conferences — from Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical The Fabelmans to Harry Styles’ period gay drama The Policeman — featured questions vetted in advance (likely a result of Venice’s Don’t Worry Darling debacle), with Styles answering just one question at the My Policeman post-premiere Q&A. “It’s an erosion of the ability to report at a festival,” says Siegel. Also on tap, the hosts tackle the arrival of Thursday Night Football on Amazon (6:19), woeful Emmys ratings (3:52) as well as Bob Chapek and Brian Roberts’ “public negotiation” over Hulu (28:41). This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oof — well, that’s an Emmys down. Today, hosts Sean McNulty and Richard Rushfield dissect the Emmys, and what it says about the streaming giants who stage their annual showdown over bragging rights with increasingly little meaning to the larger audience. Who comes out of this show stronger Diminished? And would all the streamers just be better off ignoring the Emmys altogether? The hosts also throw around some wild ideas on how to fix this awards show and others, and what lies before us on the next road to Oscar. (Curious minds can click here to watch the Love Boat 1983 ABC Fall Preview Special referenced in the episode.) This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does America really want to watch? In recent years, Hollywood has become obsessed with prestige content — the kind, as host Richard Rushfield puts it, that entertainment executives can talk about green-lighting to impress people at dinner parties. Richard, Janice Min, Tatiana Siegel, and The Wakeup’s Sean McNulty break down surprising stats that reveal how and why Hollywood became out of touch with so much potential audience (the subject of Entertainment Strategy Guy’s “The American Viewer” series), a topic with new urgency as streaming growth in the U.S. plateaus (28:19). Also, Richard and Tatiana check in from the Toronto International Film Festival (05:26), the hosts discuss the MIA marketing heads of streaming (13:04), and Sean lays out the details of Cineworld’s unsurprising bankruptcy filing (23:36). This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the price of just a few coffee runs, you can access the entire Peacock catalogue – Sunday Night Football, Love Island, and all – for a full calendar year right now. That deep-cut offer ($20 for 12 months) might signal red flags unique to the no-growth Comcast streamer, but drastic lever-pulling is engulfing the entire streaming marketplace (16:20) — from price slashing (Peacock, HBO Max, Paramount+/Showtime bundling) to ad tiers (Netflix and Disney+). Hosts Janice Min, Richard Rushfield, and The Wakeup’s Sean McNulty also talk House of the Dragon vs. Rings of Power (10:24), the return of monoculture (41:15), and the decline of marketing-sculpted movie stars (44:34). Plus: Richard struggles when quizzed about Netflix’s top 10 movie openings weekends from Summer 2022 (47:05). This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rarely does an entertainment CEO become a trending topic on Twitter, but that’s exactly where Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav found himself this week as heat increases over his company’s layoffs, DEI handling, the removal of library content including hundreds of Sesame Street episodes from HBO Max, and those so-called ‘funeral screenings.’ Hosts Janice Min, Richard Rushfield, and The Wakeup’s Sean McNulty hone in on what’s happening behind closed doors and why as mounting debt puts increasing pressure on the company. Also on today’s episode, the trio play producer Dan Lin’s prophetic remarks about DC (11:44), and run down Entertainment Strategy Guy’s fantasy M&A picks (23:40) for an embattled industry. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The town may finally be acknowledging the undeniable pressures unique to this industry. This week, Jonah Hill, Tom Holland and Ezra Miller all said they are modifying their behavior to protect their mental health. Hill is stepping away from promoting his movies and making public appearances due to panic attacks; Holland announced he has abandoned social media to help stay emotionally balanced; and Ezra Miller is seeking treatment for a complex mental health issue. Hosts Janice Min, Richard Rushfield, Tatiana Siegel and Sean McNulty survey Hollywood’s littered emotional landscape and how an industry whose very businesses are in current disarray adds another layer of stress onto its inhabitants. Separately, the hosts dive into new headlines ranging from Netflix’s Scott Stuber interviewing at Amazon, and Brian Stelter’s firing from CNN. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices