The Ankler-LAist Partnering on Entertainment News for SoCal's Largest Public Radio Station
The Ankler-LAist Partnering on Entertainment News for SoCal's Largest Public Radio Station
Our team to lead 'Entertainment Thursday' on 89.3, LA's #1 NPR station, including spots on 'Morning Edition', 'All Things Considered', and stories for LAist.com
I’m thrilled to tell you TWO pieces of exciting news.
First, today we’ve announced a new partnership with LAist, Southern California Public Radio’s flagship radio station and digital news site, to provide Hollywood news and analysis across multiple platforms including LAist 89.3, LAist.com, newsletters and social media, reaching a combined audience of 10 million. LAist 89.3 is Los Angeles’ #1 NPR station. (Click here for instructions also on how to download the LAist app and listen to us there too anytime, anywhere.)
The Ankler team will anchor the brand-new “Entertainment Thursday” on LAist 89.3, beginning this week, reporting the latest news from Hollywood and offering insightful analysis throughout that day every week.
Our journalists will be on-air for entertainment segments every Thursday during the following shows:
Morning Edition (5:00 am to 9:00 am PT)
AirTalk (9:00 am to 11:00 am PT)
All Things Considered (1:00 pm to 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm PT).
In addition:
The Ankler team will also cover breaking entertainment news as it happens.
LAist will feature The Ankler’s entertainment content on its homepage, in its morning newsletter and across its social channels.
Featured Ankler journalists will include Janice Min (hi, me), Richard Rushfield, Elaine Low, Peter Kiefer and Sean McNulty.
Says Kristen Muller, SCPR’s Chief Content Officer, “Ankler Media is essential reading for the entertainment industry — from the studio C-suite to set builders and makeup artists.”
Adds Herb Scannell, CEO, SCPR, “As the media landscape in L.A. continues to evolve, this new partnership ensures that audiences across Southern California understand the seismic changes within the entertainment industry and the impact it has on our region.”
I personally am thrilled to bring our brand of entertainment news to the LAist audience, the largest public radio audience in L.A., spanning Los Angeles County, Orange County, Palm Springs and Santa Barbara, in addition to reaching LAist’s massive web audience. The intelligence, reporting, values and credibility of LAist very much are in alignment with ours. We hope you agree.
Now, in other great news…
We have a new talent joining our team!
I’m thrilled to tell you that David Lidsky is joining The Ankler as executive editor. He comes to us from Fast Company, where he is currently deputy editor.
During his two-decade tenure at Fast Company, Lidsky was a senior editor and an articles editor before becoming deputy editor, helping to oversee the editorial direction of the brand with a focus on narrative features. He co-ran the annual “Most Innovative Companies” franchise, growing it into a multimillion-dollar platform across print, digital and live events. Lidsky pitched and worked on prescient features about media including YouTube’s global ambitions, the rise of podcasting, X’s (formerly Twitter) evolving vision for the TV business, HBO’s effort to challenge Netflix and The Chernin Group’s model for building brands such as Barstool Sports.
“I have been a fan of both Richard and Janice for a long time, and I am so excited to work with them and the team they’ve assembled,” says Lidsky. “In such a short time, The Ankler has become a go-to resource for an entertainment industry experiencing profound change. We’re going to continue to build on the uncompromising reporting and thoughtful analysis that have become its hallmarks.”
Lidsky can be reached at David@theankler.com. He will continue to be based in New York and officially starts Feb. 20.
(Fun fact: Lidsky had written Richard a cold email after The Ankler launched as a small experiment in 2017. “As should be evident, I LOVE The Ankler!!!” wrote Lidsky. “It's a great idea and you bring the perfect blend of news judgment, big-picture analysis, and acid wit to the enterprise.”)
Seven years later, and two years since I joined Richard, the spirit remains the same.
Our announcements today come at an exciting time of growth here. Ankler Media has experienced a meteoric rise, up more than 490 percent in subscription revenue since launching as a Y Combinator company in January 2022, and up 62 percent year-over-year in ad revenue in 2023. Through January 2024, The Ankler already is up 79 percent year-over-year in ad revenue. With 74,000 subscribers across its titles and more than 1.3 million podcast downloads, The Ankler has expanded into live events and has become one of Substack’s largest publications. Ankler Media is steadily growing, with its masthead now including contributors Claire Atkinson, Gregg Kilday, Manori Ravindran, the anonymous Entertainment Strategy Guy, and The Optionist’s Andy Lewis, and staff writers Peter Kiefer and Elaine Low, and Sean McNulty of The Wakeup. In addition, London Sanders is now Head of Sales.
We hope you find today’s news as exciting as we do, and we all thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in our Ankler adventure. Our success would not be possible without you.