Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.
Where the wonders of Upfronts week in NYC are entering their final day — so Elaine Low and I will be out at WBD and NETFLIX, as Natalie Jarvey heads over to YOUTUBE.
Plus, if you see Elaine and me, out and about, you can get your own personal live mini-episode of the Ankler Agenda podcast!
AND: The Tonight Show will also not air a new show opposite the Colbert finale next Thursday.
ALSO: Madonna will debut a “visual work” for her new Confessions II album at Tribeca next month on June 5.
THANKS!: To the folks at PAR+ for the invite to check out the premiere of Dutton Ranch last night in NYC, nothing like the beautiful direction and setting to have a welcome reprieve right in the middle of Upfronts week chaos. As always, the money is up on the screen with Taylor’s shows.
UPFRONTS: Day 2
DISNEY: If You Thought NBC’s Q1 Was Big . . . Wait Til Ours in 2027
It’s not often that you see the SAVANNAH BANANAS followed on stage by the CEO of one of the biggest, most well-known companies in the world . . . but then again, that’s what makes DISNEY magic so special.
But yes, look, everybody — it’s the new CEO!
And what better way for Josh D’Amaro to be introduced than by the timeless New Yorker, Andy Sachs Anne Hathaway, taking the stage for a Prada victory lap after the BANANAS finished, uh, banana’ing. (Are they a baseball team? Are they a dance troupe? Who’s to say — but one of their players is joining DWTS next season, so perhaps that settles it.)
D’Amaro curiously chose to immediately lose all of his Prada-induced goodwill by telling the New Yorkers assembled at the Javits Center that he’s a CELTICS fan . . . and reminding those folks how long it’s been since the KNICKS won a championship.
Certainly an interesting play, although unlike Josh’s team — he’s still working in May, as are the KNICKS. 🥁
While Sports/ESPN definitely got a very healthy share of time, it wasn’t the Super Bowl Everywhere approach throughout the presentation that I feared thought may happen — even if the NBA section kinda fell flat, I’m not exactly sure what the MLB section was supposed to achieve and the College Gameday crew definitely wasn’t working off of a ‘tight script’.
More on all of that below.
BUT: DISNEY has quite a Q1 ’27 ahead that’s worth getting on the radar now, HULU is definitely going hard in a certain genre and DISNEY is far in the lead on the best closer of the week race.
So, here’s what’s afoot.
NBC, HOLD OUR BEER:
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