The Ankler Podcast

Netflix just picked up Sesame Street, but this isn’t just about Elmo [https://theankler.com/p/netflix-big-bird-and-the-new-kids]. It’s a calculated move in the high-stakes fight for kids’ attention — and future subscribers. Elaine Low, Natalie Jarvey and Sean McNulty dig into why streamers like Netflix and Disney+ are doubling down on branded kids content while others quietly exit, and why Paramount+ has untapped potential [https://theankler.com/p/prime-to-peacock-the-right-next-genre]. From Miss Rachel [https://likeandsubscribenews.substack.com/p/youtube-vs-spotify-vs-netflix-the] to Bluey to Gabby’s Dollhouse, Paw Patrol to PBS, this episode unpacks how the battle for the youngest viewers is reshaping strategy — and why it matters more than you think. Also: final thoughts on Final Destination, and a few bold and likely-to-be-regretted weekend movie plans, including Lilo and Stitch side-eye. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Hollywood Stories is back! The Ankler pod series returns, this time focusing on untold tales from the world of TV as shared by the people who work in its trenches. In this debut episode of season two, Richard Rushfield hosts a revealing, in-depth interview with four creative minds behind Netflix’s hilarious, animated (but decidedly not-for-little-kids) hit, ‘Big Mouth,’ whose eighth and final season drops on May 23. Comedians and co-creators Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg swing by to discuss their silly, simpatico partnership that dates back to first grade, their own anxieties from puberty, and how they used their celebrity pull to get Hugh Jackman, Jordan Peele, Paul Giamatti and others to sign on for appearances. Richard also sits down with veteran writers and fellow co-creators Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin, who explain why you can never go too far in pushing the risqué envelope and why ‘Big Mouth’ could never in a million years have happened at a network. Says Flackett, "It would have been a different show." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Ad fab? Not quite. Still, even as the Upfronts lose glitz, stakes remain sky high. Ad buying happens year-round now [https://theankler.com/p/disneys-rita-ferro-rethinks-upfronts], sure — but with Netflix [https://theankler.com/p/netflixs-hard-sell-gross-tonnage], Amazon [https://theankler.com/p/upfronts-send-message-to-scripted], and YouTube [https://likeandsubscribenews.substack.com/p/netflix-is-coming-for-youtube-and] crashing the party and sports commanding ever-higher premiums, TV’s annual dog-and-pony is still a spectacle, drawing Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey to the scene in New York. In this episode: their first-ever “Uppie Awards”; best (and worst) celebrity cameos (hello Lady Gaga and Snoop Dogg); who liked Netflix’s big pitch [https://theankler.com/p/netflixs-hard-sell-gross-tonnage]; HBO Max name-change whiplash [https://theankler.com/p/hbo-brandicide-failure-max-biden-hollywood-cannes]; and whose afterparty delivered. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Really believe Trump wants to bring production back stateside? Or that California Gov. Gavin Newsom can work with him to do it? Think again, says Richard Rushfield, who joins Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey to break down the fantasy of a tariff [https://theankler.com/p/hbo-new-comedy-expansion-tariff-qs] or federal incentive, the impact already from the trade war [https://theankler.com/p/tv-chaos-underway-in-us-canada-trade], Newsom’s failings [https://theankler.com/p/hollywood-trump-tariffs-jon-voight-gavin-newsom] that precipitated all of this — and why Richard thinks any action to bring production back is 25 years too late. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Overalls, first-look pacts and original films are making a comeback — on paper, at least. Deal volume is up [https://theankler.com/p/first-look-deals-overalls-2025-q1-paramount-skydance], but value is down. And that original film revival [https://theankler.com/p/sinners-impact-originals-indie-film-hope-2025-deals]? It’s starting to come from outside the studios. Ashley Cullins joins Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey to unpack her two-part series on current deal trends, from Sinners [https://theankler.com/p/warner-bros-mike-deluca-pamela-abdy-everyone-was-wrong?utm_source=publication-search]’ mid-budget model to the studio execs evangelizing for self-releasing on YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]