→ You can now listen to all Ankler stories in the Substack app. Just hit the “play” arrow at the top right of the screen. ☀️NETFLIX's WBD Deal Interest Tea LeavesWBD's options as PAR rejections continue / CHARTER sets layoffs / SKYSHOWTIME's big red inkMornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. Where NBC giving a full hour to the NBA launch for a pre-game show last night starting at 6:30 p.m. ET — with a tip-off finally at . . . 7:45 p.m. and no local news or Tonight Show given the doubleheader — says all you need to know about the value that NBC is putting on sports for the future of the network’s business over . . . pretty much everything else.
BUT: At least Hollywood isn’t the only industry OPENAI is looking to
NEXT UP: Step aside SORA 😏, and Meet ATLAS! That’s OPENAI’s new cutting-edge product called a . . . “web browser” (🤷♂️) that is 100% coming for GOOGLE’s Chrome business. Here’s a demo video which makes ATLAS seem to be part browser, part chatbot. ALTHOUGH: Don’t you worry, Hollywood . . . Sam Altman still somehow has room to eat your lunch too. Anyone who was wholly reassured by OPENAI’s broad statements this week in the new SAG statement about SORA, like “OpenAI has strengthened guardrails around replication of voice and likeness when individuals do not opt-in,“ — without any further details about those guardrails — well, I’ll just at least point out here that creators (and microdrama makers) have no such stated protections, or an organization to at least fight for them. In the meantime, I really hope the Hollywood studio message in return to the company continues to be 👇. OH: “Ticket fees” are 29% of the total face value of concert ticket prices in New York, according to a new analysis of 68 venues by the NATIONAL INDEPENDENT TALENT ORGANIZATION.
WELL: At least you can always count on a solid bargain from Hollywood! Ah dammit 🤦♂️ . . . HBO MAX is doing its previously alluded to #pricehike now for new customers, and current customers will see the price hike in your next bill starting Nov. 20.
THUS: 6 of the 7 big streamers (HBO MAX, NETFLIX, APPLE TV, PEACOCK, DISNEY+, HULU) have raised their prices this year.
SO: Yes, I think we can finally finish the “Streaming Era Pricing Hustle” tombstone, and etch “c. 2016 to 2026. Suckers!” onto the face of it. NOW: Meet the “Streaming Bundle Gambit” era! Which, yes, looks just like its grandfather on its mother’s side (don’t tell it about the balding gene), “The Cable Bundle” — its tombstone is 2 down to the left next to the “Streaming Era Price Hustle,” can’t miss it 🪦.
All with ads, just like ‘Pa’s Cable TV bundle. ALSO: FOX will air 69 FIFA World Cup ⚽️ next year — 34 on FOX like it did in 2022, plus 35 on FS1. All will stream on FOX ONE. THEN: AMAZON’s Black Friday NFL game (EAGLES vs. BEARS) will stream globally on PRIME VIDEO in November, a la NETFLIX’s Christmas NFL games. FINALLY: Just a shout-out to Jersey’s own, and a longtime GIANTS fan, Tommy Pelphrey, for keeping it real in Philly while promoting his PA-based HBO series Task. ✋ WBD rejects 2nd offer by PSKYYa know, you schedule a knee surgery weeks in advance for a Tuesday morning, figuring — ah, Tuesday mornings are usually kinda sleepy . . . and then NETFLIX changes precedent by moving its earnings call date to that day, and WBD confirms “You’re damn right we’re for sale!” that same morning . . . and karma laughs at me in the corner (there’s a Taylor Swift song for this situation, right?) But I digress — here’s the latest, with a big picture WBD buyer reality check breakdown that . . . well, I’m really not seeing much of out there... Subscribe to The Ankler. to unlock the rest.Become a paying subscriber of The Ankler. to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content. A subscription gets you:
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☀️NETFLIX's WBD Deal Interest Tea Leaves
October 22, 2025
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