Transcript: Pray for Paramount. And the Movies
The state of play for the storied studio as box office hits the skids. And let's not even start on TV . . .
Sean McNulty (00:05):
Welcome to the Ankler Podcast. This is Sean McNulty of The Wakeup Newsletter here at the Ankler here on the Jersey Shore on Thursday, May 30th, believe is the date I'm joined in Los Angeles by Richard Rushfield and Elaine Low, who is somehow is not wearing her Rafa Forever headband on the pod today. Elaine, should we have a moment of silence for the extremely large tennis fan listenership that we have for the podcast here?
Elaine Low (00:27):
Hey, you mock, but it's growing. There are dozens of us.
Sean McNulty (00:31):
Dozens.
Elaine Low (00:32):
Maybe not even dozens, but we'll get to dozens someday.
Sean McNulty (00:34):
Dozen, dozen.
Elaine Low (00:36):
Maybe half a dozen of us.
Sean McNulty (00:37):
Yeah.
Elaine Low (00:38):
No, it was very sad. Look, Rafa got a really tough draw pulling up against the number four, Zverev, in the first round, and that's the first time he's ever been knocked out in the first round I think. It's like his fourth loss ever at Roland-Garros.
Sean McNulty (00:51):
I'm not going to get too far into tennis, obviously, but I also saw that Naomi Osaka was-
Elaine Low (00:55):
Hey, you opened the door, Sean.
Sean McNulty (00:56):
I did, and I'm going to close it shortly, but Naomi Osaka also, were there a lot of close draws in the first early rounds here?
Elaine Low (01:02):
Oh yeah, that one was a scorcher.
Sean McNulty (01:03):
I mean-
Elaine Low (01:04):
I only saw a little. I saw bits and pieces of it because being a tennis fan in the US is the most inane, frustrating thing in the world where you have to try and find one tournament in about four different streamers and networks.
Sean McNulty (01:15):
[inaudible 00:01:16].
Elaine Low (01:16):
Slash niche services.
Sean McNulty (01:18):
Welcome to sports.
Elaine Low (01:19):
Yes, I know. Well, Iga and Naomi, people should check that one out. That was a good one too.
Sean McNulty (01:24):
If your Rafa got knocked out or does that mean you don't have to watch the whole thing?
Elaine Low (01:28):
Richard.
Sean McNulty (01:31):
That sounds like a hidden benefit there.
Elaine Low (01:35):
Great. Now I don't have to watch any more... No, I'm still lots of guys to root for.
Sean McNulty (01:38):
You'll be watching matches twice, Richard, what are you talking about? Give me a break. Come on. Anyway, but of course we'll get to Richard's NBA thoughts in a bit, of course. But before we get dive into all that, just to remind you, you can catch the Ankler crew over on LA's number one NPR station and Southern California Public Radio's flagship radio station. That's 89.3 LAist throughout the day every Thursday as part of Entertainment Thursday programming across Morning Edition AirTalk and All Things Considered. And you can reach us here at the podcast anytime at podcasts@theankler.com.
(02:09):
Well, Richard, we will get to your NBA finals handicapping shortly, but otherwise it's a bit of a... It's a holiday week, Memorial Day week here, but a week of things still hanging in the ether here. Elaine, which one do you think it's done first? A Paramount decision or an official NBA media rights deal announcement?
Elaine Low (02:27):
I feel like we've been talking about a pending Paramount deal for the better part of eight years now. I'm going to go with NBA on this one.
Sean McNulty (02:36):
Going to go with NBA on this one. Well, the new NBA media brights deals keep feeling like they'll be announced any day now. And yet, here we are with the same basic info we had about three or four weeks ago. The NBA finals, of course start next Thursday, June 6th on ABC as of course you both well know.
(02:53):
The popular thought is the NBA would like to have a bow on this by the time that wraps up later in June. Just a small related point, the Diamond Sports Group, which is heavily involved with the local RSN rights for many NBA teams, has their next date in bankruptcy court on June 18th. That feels like in the next couple of weeks that should come together. But them, Richard, we still have Paramount still hanging out there in the ether, which it is worth noting the annual meeting takes place this Tuesday when four board members will officially leave the board. And Sherry, I think it's down to seven with Sherry there on the board.
(03:26):
We're recording here on Thursday afternoon where Skydance has reportedly submitted a revised bid that has articles out there with just that in it. I think the new bid's called Pretty Please, Richard. No real details, but what do you got on this one at the moment?