Netflix–WBD: 48 Hours of Hollywood Meltdown
Jane Fonda’s warning, Sean, Elaine & Lesley’s reporting and analysis, Richard’s outrage
On the eve of the bombshell announcement that Netflix had struck a deal to acquire Warner Bros.’ studio and streaming assets, Jane Fonda sounded the alarm. In an exclusive op-ed for The Ankler, the legendary artist and activist wrote, “Regardless of which company ends up acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery or its parts, the resulting impact is clear: Consolidation at this scale would be catastrophic for an industry built on free expression, for the creative workers who power it, and for consumers who depend on a free, independent media ecosystem to understand the world.”
As official word of the deal landed on Friday and sent Hollywood reeling, Team Ankler tackled every angle:
Elaine Low, Sean McNulty, Natalie Jarvey and Lesley Goldberg delivered smart, insider takes from their instant reporting on an emergency episode of Ankler Agenda (watch on YouTube or listen, like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts).
In The Wakeup, Sean dug into all the deal points, the timeline, the regulatory hurdles, the money trail and the (many) unknowns. (He also brought his superlative analysis to CNBC’s The Exchange.)
Lesley broke down the fallout for TV creators, execs and workers in a must-read for anyone with a stake in the future of entertainment.
Richard Rushfield led a Substack Live with former FTC commissioner Alvaro Bedoya and monopoly expert Matt Stoller to discuss what the rollup could do to Hollywood’s creative ecosystem — and how to fight it.
We’ll be all over this story as it develops, bringing you our urgent reporting plus expert insights from across the entertainment community. But on Saturday, we took a break from the Netflix-WBD of it all as Natalie Jarvey moderated a standing-room-only conversation about social media stardom and the pursuit of excellence in sports and beyond with Olympian/Dancing With the Stars phenom Jordan Chiles and Noah Beck, who made the leap from D1 soccer player to top TikToker (33 million followers and counting) to Tubi star as the lead of Sidelined and Sidelined 2.
Thanks to Meta Lab for hosting this frank and funny dialogue, and check out Tuesday’s Like & Subscribe for more from Beck and Chiles, including top takeaways for creators in 2026.
Now, ICYMI, here’s the rest of our best of the week:
Entertainment Strategy Guy: Theatrical vs. Streaming Redux
Required reading for Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos as Hollywood scrutinizes his plans for theatrical distribution of Warner Bros. films: Top streaming original movies could have changed the 2025 box office with a detour to the cinema, and ESG has the numbers to prove it — along with the nine-figure upside Netflix and others effectively threw away:
Rushfield: Global Warning
Just in case Netflix’s potential gobbling up of Warner Bros. doesn’t give you enough agita about the future of theaters, Richard pulled a decade of data to reveal a dire trend hiding in plain sight — the world is watching less and less of the cinema we make:
Series Business: Macy’s Parade Shock Ratings
Jen Neal, NBCU’s EVP behind Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, unpacks the strategy that powered the company’s “entertainment Super Bowl” to a record 34 million viewers. Plus: Lesley kicks off her Showrunner Sessions series with Diplomat creator Debora Cahn:
Elaine breaks down science star Mark Rober’s crash into paid streaming and takes a tough look at how the voiceover booth — like TV ads — is increasingly dominated by A-listers as AI fears also loom:
Reel AI: The ‘What to Watch’ Nightmare Q
AI tech may be coming fast for film and TV production, but it’s already dictating viewing habits by upending search. The query “what to watch” is a minefield, and Literate AI — a consultancy that helps companies optimize for AI search — tells Erik Barmack what the grim fallout could be for marketing, greenlights and talent as Hollywood falls behind:
Prestige Junkie: Dunst, Tatum, Moura
As the Oscar race heats up with high-impact precursor awards, Katey Rich breaks down whose stock is up (Benicio del Toro!) and whose is falling. (Subscribe to Prestige Junkie After Party for more awards dish.) Plus: Katey chats with Roofman’s Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst, The Beast In Me’s Claire Danes and The Secret Agent’s Wagner Moura:
The Wakeup
As three of Hollywood’s biggest players battled for the WBD prize, Sean followed the money, the maneuvers and the tantrums — and kept his keen eye on every other story that mattered this week, AI to Zootopia:
📹 Ankler Shows
Monday Morning QBs: After China powered Zootopia 2 to a huge opening weekend, Richard and Sean assess whether, following six years of decline, the Middle Kingdom market could be warming up again to U.S. fare:
Rushfield Lunch: Wicked playwright and screenwriter Winnie Holzman joins Richard for a wide-ranging conversation on the resonance of Wicked: For Good, why the story’s themes of resisting authoritarianism feel painfully timely and how she knew Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande were the ones to bring Elphaba and Glinda to the screen:
📱 LIKE & SUBSCRIBE BY NATALIE JARVEY
👓 THE OPTIONIST BY ANDY LEWIS
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