Hi, it’s Janice Min writing to you today.
A few months ago, I had lunch with a senior executive at one of the streaming services in town who shared with me her daily reading habits. I had heard of everything but stopped her when she said “The Wakeup”. What is that? I asked. She told me executives from HBO had tipped her off to it. It clearly was a cult favorite — a little bit how like The Ankler itself had begun, shared not through hype or marketing, but pure word of mouth.
I was in New York soon after and met The Wakeup writer at Café Luxembourg. His name is Sean McNulty, and I liked him right away. For starters, he’s an obsessive: he’s a former HBO and Charter executive who literally reads everything business-related to this industry. He was clear on a few points: he only wants to be writing for executives; had strong opinions on the assorted people and companies in this industry; and had been publishing his newsletter without missing his own self-imposed daily of 8:30 a.m. EST deadline for a year and a half. Sold!
The difference between Sean and what Richard and today’s current Ankler contributors do is that Sean’s morning newsletter is aggregation — a true morning roundup from a wide array of media sources. It’s smart, short and savvy. It will also sometimes make you laugh out loud (i.e., it doesn’t feel like choking down vitamins). On a daily basis, he also delivers a few surprises even for the most know-it-all among us. The streaming executive said to me, “He always has links to stories I missed or wouldn’t have found on my own.” Sean also covers every earnings call, and seems (apparently) to watch every trailer. I simply don’t know how he finds so many hours in his day.
The Wakeup will debut on The Ankler beginning this Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. EST (5:30 a.m. Los Angeles time if you are an early riser like I am). To receive it, there is nothing you need to do. Every subscriber is opted in to everything Ankler. But we realize some of you don’t want to receive everything. (I understand: inboxes are like avalanches that bury you every single day — trying to clear one is Sisyphean). Though nearly all our paid subscribers open every newsletter (the consistent open rate for every newsletter is 70 percent), we never want to be accused of spamming you.
Instructions on how to opt in and out are at the bottom of this email.
It’s been great spending time with you all over the last few months. We hope you are enjoying what we produce and agree it is a smart, unvarnished and much-needed voice in this industry. Thank you so much for being an Ankler subscriber. We appreciate each and every one of you.
Janice
New this week on The Ankler
A Drag Queen Race Already Won: Texas’s efforts to outlaw minors at shows misses the point that Hollywood has has already mainstreamed drag.
Pod: Gone in 7 Minutes: Disney’s “gang fight,” Dana Walden’s contract negotiations and a town ‘outraged’ by the Peter Rice firing.
The Rice Capades: A Disney shake-up shocks the town to its core.
Production Companies and the Bubbles About to Burst? ESG asks if Netflix was the canary in the coal mine.
Brentwood School Sued Over ‘Woke’ Curriculum: The culture wars burn on at the exclusive westside school.
Paramount’s State of Slate: Analyzing Shari’s suddenly swaggy studio.
Martini Shot – Other People’s Money: The methods networks use to predict what shows will be hits.
And the Oscar CEO Job Goes To… The Ankler broke the news of the Academy’s new chief.
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