☀️ L.A. Mayor, WGA clash on WBD-PSKY

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 Friday, August 21, 2026.

Where good news! You can now blame that drunk text you sent last night on CHATGPT! (Wait, do those still exist now that twentysomethings can’t afford to drink anymore?)

Yes, OPENAI released an update for CHATGPT on the Mac that allows it to read, write and send messages via iMessage on your computer, although it probably still can’t give you an excuse for it being sent at 1:45 a.m., since even CHATGPT knows that’s a bad idea.

THEN: A judge said a hearing on DISNEY’s First Amendment lawsuit against the FCC will happen the week of Oct. 5, unless the FCC takes action on its review of the ABC O&O stations before that timeframe. Then the judge would hold a hearing on a temporary restraining order the following day.

YUP: Popcorn and calorie lovers, mark Sunday, Sept. 6, on the calendar for CINEMARK’s BYO Bucket day! Yes, the theater chain will fill up with popcorn whatever size bucket you bring (up to 400 oz.) — the perfect event to say farewell to bathing suit season and eat half of your daily recommended caloric intake in one sitting!

YEAH: Add L.A. Mayor Karen Bass to the list of folks calling for settlement talks between PSKY and the state AGs . . . and the list of people who think the judicial process is the problem as to why 2 studios are anecdotally pulling back on production a bit — even though they both once again told Wall Street they were putting out 15+ movies next year just 3 weeks ago.

• The WGA responded with a statement slamming Bass’ statement, noting that the city she oversees just issued a report on the likely thousands of jobs that would be lost in her county should WARNAMOUNT happen.
  • “Paramount has created a false choice for entertainment industry workers: The company argues that enforcing antitrust law hurts us by creating uncertainty, which is of their own making as the company attempts to dominate the industry. We reject the claim that beleaguered industry workers must choose the possibility of a job today, in exchange for the certainty of job losses tomorrow.”
• Mayoral candidate Nithya Raman expressed a similar POV:
  • “This is a bad deal for entertainment workers and a bad deal for Los Angeles. That’s why I support Attorney General Rob Bonta’s antitrust lawsuit and stand with the workers fighting this merger.”

AND: Elaine Low and I dove into the bigger problem with the idea of “settlement talks” that no one’s offering ideas to solve on this week’s Ankler Agenda pod.

• YOUTUBE video link
• APPLE audio pod link (or just search “Ankler Agenda” wherever you listen).

OH: ESPN is looking to do a new Monday Night Football alt-cast led by Pat McAfee if it gets the nod from the NFL. It would likely occur in the weeks without a Manningcast, which could total up to 8 games.

OOPS: AMAZON PRIME VIDEO posted the new Jason Statham movie Mutiny on the service for a few hours earlier this week on a page that typically shows trailers.

• The film is in theaters today from LIONSGATE in the U.S., and yeah — the global distribution partners are not happy. We’ll see about any, uh, “make good” effort forthcoming.

BUT: That’s not getting in the way of AMAZON PV committing to invest $2B in LATAM programming from 2027 to 2030, ranging from original programming to licensing to sports rights.

PLUS: If you’re a COX TV bundle subscriber in SoCal or Vegas — good news! You’ll get LA SPORTSNET as part of COX’s deal with CHARTER being sealed.

WELL: Your Q2 retailer report on the health of the American consumer:

• TARGET had at least some good news — though it seemed to come from in-store changes, other strategy decisions and tariff refunds rather than increased American consumer spending.
• WALMART had its slowest quarterly sales growth in 6 years (+2.7% vs. +4.1% YoY in Q2) and had a lower Q3 guidance than expected, putting the stock -9%. And yes, 6 years ago was Covid.
  • But at least the, uh, $2.9B it got back in tariff refunds will result in some price cutting! See? There are some winners in the #TrumpTariff debacle!

NEWS FOR ELAINE: U.S. Open 🎾 ticket prices are +13% YoY for the 2 main draw weeks this year. I really hope it doesn’t affect the tennis crowd’s WALMART shopping budgets! At least the price is staying the same for Honey Deuces. At $23.

AH: In the 2 years since the NFL opened up team investing to private equity, KKR’s ARCTOS — one of the 6 approved PE firms by the NFL for investing — has now made an investment in its 4th team, a 10% stake in the ATLANTA FALCONS (the maximum amount allowed by the league).

• This is at a $10.6B valuation, or about $2B less than what Iger & Kushner are valuing the LAKERS at.
  • BTW: Patrick Soon-Shiong is not intending to sell his 4% ownership stake in the LAKERS to the new owners.

• This joins previous investments in the BILLS, BROWNS and CHARGERS, and it’s still allowed to invest in 2 more teams per NFL regulations.
• ARCTOS also owns stakes in 3 NBA teams, 5 NHL teams and 5 MLB teams according to FOS.

FINALLY: Just a big golf clap for this one 👇. Welcome to your future, America — so close!

And you thought the loud sound of your neighbor’s landscapers during WFH in Covid was annoying . . . although in the drone’s defense, she did say she wanted her new pool noodle delivered as soon as possible (btw, she had no idea a drone would be delivering her order).

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🎥 The Silver Screen