Transcript: A TV Deal Flurry. For Some

Who's suddenly getting paid (or squeezed) and how much

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Sean McNulty (00:04):

Welcome to The Ankler Podcast. This is Sean McNulty of The Wakeup newsletter here at The Ankler here in New York City on Thursday, June 13th. I'm joined in Los Angeles by Richard Rushfield and Elaine Low, who is not wearing her Bridgerton costume this week. Elaine, you call yourself a fan. Today is the big day. I am very disappointed.

Elaine Low (00:23):

Listen, I have binge-watching plans starting the moment we're done getting off of this pod, all right?

Sean McNulty (00:28):

You're watching right now? Okay. Yeah, that's fine.

Elaine Low (00:33):

Yeah, I'm secretly watching right now. You see my eyes flitting-

Sean McNulty (00:33):

Nice try, nice try.

Elaine Low (00:33):

... over at the second screen.

Sean McNulty (00:34):

Okay. Yeah, fair enough. Fair enough. Yes. This is what, part two is what I know.

Elaine Low (00:38):

Yes, it's part two.

Sean McNulty (00:39):

Part two, season three.

Elaine Low (00:42):

It's the Polin story. It's the Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton story.

Sean McNulty (00:47):

All right, well.

Elaine Low (00:48):

Hotly anticipated.

Sean McNulty (00:51):

I hope you enjoy it. I hope it lives up to all of your expectations, Elaine, and will help you wear your outfit.

Elaine Low (00:55):

Listen, after watching four hours and 19 minutes of the French Open final, yeah, no, it's been a good week. A good week for things on the TV.

Sean McNulty (01:03):

How do you top that, Richard? I don't know, but yeah, exactly. That's a tall order.

Elaine Low (01:08):

It was amazing. Gosh.

Sean McNulty (01:11):

Elaine's got a big month here, so anyway, she was also up at the Banff Media Festival. We'll hear what TV execs have to say when they're north of the border where all the TV series shoot anyway these days.

(01:21):

But Richard, we had a big sale of a movie theater chain this week, but not the one everybody thought was going to be sold. Sony, our friends at Sony, bought the Alamo Drafthouse chain, which puts 35 movie theater locations in 25 metro areas under the control of Mr. Vinciquerra there at Sony. But not the movie theater chain most people are talking about these days, Richard, unfortunately.

Richard Rushfield (01:42):

Yeah. I mean, Alamo Drafthouse is a storied beloved chain, especially to many in Texas, and now Tom Rothman gets to-

Sean McNulty (01:51):

That's right, yeah, Tom Rothman.

Richard Rushfield (01:53):

So I'm hoping that Tom will use it to conduct seminars and share his life and learnings with us-

Sean McNulty (02:00):

Yes.

Richard Rushfield (02:01):

... in his theater.

Sean McNulty (02:03):

Hold the staff meetings there. The sky's the limit. So you guys have them in one in LA? We have a couple here in New York. Do you have them out there?

Richard Rushfield (02:09):

We have one downtown, yes.

Sean McNulty (02:11):

You have one downtown. Okay, got it. I figured it probably had a LA contingent there. But as for the other movie theater chain up for sale, National Amusements, well, Shari Redstone sent up the black smoke and the chimney there at 1515 Broadway at New York City on Tuesday.

(02:26):

No deal with Larry Ellison and the RedBird, KKR contingent, which everybody swore was a done deal until Tuesday morning until it wasn't, Richard. Regardless of the minutia of how it went down, it's done, no longer an option about this. What's going on in your mind here?

Richard Rushfield (02:41):

I think everybody thought it was done because there was no other-

Sean McNulty (02:47):

No other option.

Richard Rushfield (02:47):

... plausible scenario-

Sean McNulty (02:49):

Okay, that's fair.

Richard Rushfield (02:50):

... on the table, so now we're in the world of the implausible. So what is it Sherlock Holmes says? When you eliminate all the impossible things, what's left is the answer. So here we are.