Disney CEO Bob Iger is ready to abdicate the throne. Again. Six years after Iger first stepped down as CEO, and 38 months after he regained control of Disney following Bob Chapek’s disastrous two-year stretch, the succession planning committee is expected to announce the winner in “early 2026,” aka now. (Cue the Succession theme.) But even as the frontrunners have remained the same — it’s still a presumed two-horse race between Disney Parks head Josh D’Amaro and Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden — the world has rapidly changed. Disney has to contend with AI, a behemoth rival in a merged Netflix-Warner Bros., and a charged political environment. Which of these heavyweights lands the TKO? Would co-CEOs, à la Netflix, make sense? Elaine Low, Natalie Jarvey and Sean McNulty break it all down ahead of Disney’s next earnings call.

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Meryl, Leo, Scarlett, Zendaya — every generation produces its breakout stars. But minting the next one has never been harder amid the collapse of monoculture and the rise of social media. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey predict the top stars of 2026, share behind-the-scenes insights from the casting directors of Heated Rivalry on how they found Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie and that pivotal chemistry test, and explain how Snap is building a path to success for creators. Plus: The latest on the WBD-Netflix merger saga (now with all-cash!), and Matthew Frank’s update on his Netflix earnings call and talk-show bets on the prediction markets.

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Nothing stirred more outrage at the Golden Globes than the integration of prediction market (read: betting platform) Polymarket in the telecast — Katey Rich called it “incredibly tacky,” and Richard Rushfield argued the show “milked opportunities for clickbait and cash grabs into the show like a BuzzFeed headline writer circa 12 years ago.” After years of harmless live-voting on American Idol or Dancing With the Stars, is betting the next frontier of interactive TV? Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey trace the history of entertainment gamification — and the money now pouring in (see: Amazon and FanDuel’s NBA deal). Plus, an inside look at the first-ever Ankler Invitational, Elaine’s smashing new tennis event.

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One year after the L.A. fires and three years after the strikes — with another round of labor drama looming — it can feel like every creative you know is fleeing Hollywood. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty, and Natalie Jarvey dig into the actual data behind a yes, very real L.A. exodus — but separate panic, perception and think-piece fuel from reality. Then, MoviePass is back — this time as a predictions market. Matthew Frank risks $1,000 of The Ankler’s own money to explain how prediction markets work in 2026, why they’re called a “degenerate economy” and how you can bet on everything from Oscar categories and the ceremony itself (including the monologue) to what show will be #1 on Netflix.

Plus: Richard Rushfield lays out the six fronts that will decide whether 2026 is Hollywood’s comeback year — or the start of its final slide.

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Which business trends are giving the Ankler crew hope in the New Year? Is the 2023 writers’ strike responsible for the current shaky entertainment economy? What streaming service would Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey bring back from the dead? (Spoiler alert: no one picked Go90.) You sent in your most burning questions for Ankler Agenda’s last episode of the year, and the gang delivers. This may be the first mailbag episode, but it’s not the last — send in your questions any time of year at [email protected].

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Netflix, YouTube, horny hockey hunks — even amid rough economic terrain this year, these industry standouts and more not only survived through ’25, but thrived. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey are joined by a cavalcade of Ankler’s best — including Katey Rich, Lesley Goldberg, Matthew Frank and Ankler Agenda executive producer Shana Naomi Krochmal — to share their winners of the year, as well as the unfortunate losers. (Sorry, but if you’re reading this, Sean has you on the list — and he’s brought receipts.)

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In a year when creators surged fully into the mainstream, ICYMI’s Lia Haberman joins Like & Subscribe's Natalie Jarvey for a Substack Live recap of the biggest highs and lows of 2025. From MrBeast going Hollywood to Ms. Rachel landing on Netflix, plus podcasts turning into video shows and YouTube cementing itself as television, they break down what changed, and what those shifts mean for the creator economy going into 2026.

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Some guys can’t take a hint. After half a dozen proposals and a hostile bid, Paramount Skydance got a definitive “no means no” from Warner Bros. Discovery’s board this week. Elaine Low and Sean McNulty break down how the tables turned on suitor PSKY, what this means for the timeline of a Netflix-Warner Bros. merger and the wild payouts David Zaslav and the WBD C-suite are getting regardless of what happens. (Contraction, schmontraction.) Then, Erik Barmack unpacks Disney’s $1B investment in OpenAI, Bob Iger’s claim that the deal poses “no threat to creatives,” and what it really means when 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters can now be remixed into user-generated Sora videos.

Plus: Richard Rushfield on the tragic murders of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner.

Want to be featured in a future mailbag episode? Send your questions to [email protected]!

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Prestige Junkie's Katey Rich and Natalie Jarvey jumped on Substack Live to discuss why the Academy struck a deal with YouTube to air the Oscars, who might win the most in this deal, and what kind of changes we might expect for the Oscars going forward.

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Richard Rushfield, Katey Rich and Christopher Rosen taped a special Prestige Junkie episode to discuss what Richard rightly hailed as Rob Reiner's “towering career of a towering presence” in the industry. From his early days as a sitcom star on All in the Family to his remarkable 12-year run of feature films, starting with 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap and ending with 1996’s The American President — with 1986’s Stand By Me, 1987’s The Princess Bride and 1989’s When Harry Met Sally among those in between — Reiner influenced a generation.

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