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If you thought Netflix wasn’t fighting enough fronts with its $83 billion bid for Warner Bros., Natalie Jarvey of Like & Subscribe broke big news on Friday night that reveals what the streamer really wants: to bury bigger player YouTube as fast as possible. Natalie scooped details of Netflix nearing a massive deal with iHeart to bring 20 pods, including Charlamagne tha God’s The Breakfast Club, to its platform. The knife twist? Video from those pods will be pulled from YouTube. In other words, it’s on.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ fate grew murkier last week as Paramount punched back on Monday with a $108 billion hostile takeover bid (Richard Rushfield weighed the two possible outcomes; Sean McNulty had smart second-day analysis on The Wakeup). TV insiders are divided on which suitor is “less bad,” as Lesley Goldberg reported from her conversations with a dozen C-suiters, while top agents told Elaine Low about their fears of a paralyzed market while the deal gets sorted out.
Meanwhile, our team hit the airwaves to deliver the best analysis anywhere, with Sean appearing on ABC News, Elaine guesting on NBC and NPR’s 1A and Natalie joining The Media Show podcast. Ankler Media CEO Janice Min also grabbed the mic this week on the Breaker podcast opposite sometime Ankler contributor Lachlan Cartwright — their lively “chinwag,” as Aussie Cartwright would call it, covered the Warners tumult, AI in Hollywood, Disney’s succession mess and much more.
Lastly, make sure you check out our new video series from Ankler Studio, Main Character, highlighting the best lead performances in film and TV. The show is gorgeously produced by Ankler Media’s executive producer of brand experiences, Jen Laski. First up? An intimate, moving interview with Train Dreams’ Joel Edgerton. Next week: Sentimental Value’s Renate Reinsve.
Now, ICYMI, here’s the rest of our best of the week:
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Cinema owners tell Matthew Frank that Hollywood studios’ two-week mandatory run for movies is crushing them, forcing theaters to stick with movies their audiences have rejected (looking at you, Tron: Ares):
So Netflix gobbles up Warner Bros., or maybe Paramount wins the prize. What’s the worst that could happen? That’s TV writer Joel Stein’s question as he skewers both companies, Hollywood and himself in a satirical take on the tumult.
Working with Oscar-winning composer Daniel Blumberg on The Testament of Ann Lee, Amanda Seyfried made sounds she’d “never heard in a film,” she says. Maestro and star chat with Rob LeDonne about their “very out-of-the-box” collaboration:
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Katey Rich broke down key takeaways from the Globes noms, and chats with Deliver Me from Nowhere star Jeremy Allen White, Sinners’ Delroy Lindo and Monster’s Charlie Hunnam. Meanwhile, Ankler deputy editor Christopher Rosen explores the music of Netflix’s Jay Kelly with composer extraordinaire Nicholas Britell:
 | The Best and Worst Golden Globes Nominations, Plus Jeremy Allen White On His Springsteen Transformation Prestige Junkie 1:08:39 |
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After another pivotal week for the industry, there’s nobody better at extrapolating what you need to know than Sean. Don’t miss his deep dives into Netflix and Paramount’s dueling WBD pitches, which Disney characters will become AI slop and which will stay untouched:
Monday Morning QBs: Amid the ongoing Warner Bros. saga, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 debuted big, and Zootopia 2 continues to outperform expectations. Is everything going to be okay? Richard & Sean welcome former head of Amazon Studios Roy Price to assess the state of things:
Rushfield Lunch: Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins and James Ellis Deakins, his creative collaborator, join Richard for a lengthy discussion about their careers, the esteemed filmmakers they’ve worked with — and the tenuous future of the medium:
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[[DON’T WE WANT TO PUT MARTINI SHOT HERE?]]
 | Tick, Tick: The 10-Day Siege of Warner Bros. Begins Ankler Agenda 35:51 |
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