The Ankler

☀️WBD austerity cuts hit HBOMAX scripted series

WHITE LOTUS audience booms in finale / Some more PLAN B deal details / NETFLIX’s 2022 SOUTH KOREAN programming success

Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY December 13, 2022.

Where I was home visiting mom yesterday and enjoying #ThatCableBundleLife, which means NFL Monday Night Football Manningcast! And – 2 observations:

  1. Please stop putting the NFL in the DISNEY BUNDLE TV spot, falsely inferring that NFL games regularly stream on ESPN+. It heavily implies ESPN+ is like PEACOCK or PARAMOUNT+ who do stream NFL games each week. ESPN+ / DISNEY BUNDLE-only subs cannot watch Monday Night Football on ESPN+.

  2. Bill Simmons joined Peyton & Eli for the 2nd quarter – how is he not doing a weekly RINGER version of this for NBA Games on ESPN2?? Missed opportunity. Even doing it on TRU TV for TNT games would work too.

POINTS: To another Manningcast guest last night, 2X Super Bowl winning kicker Adam Vinatieri for immediately saying that he doesn’t have cable and is a fellow HD antenna person like me, and therefore had never seen Manningcast when he came on the ESPN2 cable TV broadcast.

PLUS: TICKETMASTER is offering a bit of a ‘make good’ for TSWIFT “Verified Fans” next week, with a new offer to (potentially) buy tix. (also happy 33rd birthday Taylor 🥳)

AND: Good news if you enjoy ending a year in a symbolic way – you can now spend your New Years Eve wearing a headset that shuts out the world around you… to hang in the METAVERSE with Shaq.

  • ALTHOUGH: It’s just a one-hour, pre-recorded show that’ll just loop all night long… Well done META, you’ve re-created Cable TV in 1983.

ALSO: Here’s the 2022 BLACK LIST script competition winner list. And more importantly… here it is broken down by agency / mgmt representation.

THEN: Michael B. Jordan is the latest (part) owner of a UK football club. He’s part of a new group of investors in the PREMIERE LEAGUE’s AFC BOURNEMOUTH club in the south of ENGLAND. No financial details or upcoming “Ted Lasso” cameo noted.

THIS TRACKS: All of the “Just how bad is it?? 😬 Q4 Ad Spend pullback clouds out there certainly make more sense in light of this new Bloomberg / Harris Poll citing that 60% of Americans are planning to buy fewer gifts, for fewer people this year, with 33% forgoing gift giving all-together this holiday season.

But don’t worry – Bloomberg also has you covered with 5 experts giving you advice on where to invest that $100k you have lying around 🙄.


📽 THE SILVER SCREEN

JUST TWO THINGS



📺 THE TV SET

IN TODAY’S EDITION:

  • WBD turns the ax to content cuts on HBOMAX as the next austerity lever to pull. But remember, it’s only Tuesday. A look at the tally for just December so far.

  • “White Lotus” audience momentum continues, a look at the pivotal weeks this year, as “Barmageddon” scores for USA.

  • NETFLIX reveals new South Korean content numbers, as TUBI sets their own SK content deal.

  • Howard Stern’s choice “Harry & Meghan” review, a few more PLAN B / MEDIAWAN deal details, and more.

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