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Sara Fischer: The Ankler launches standalone trade publication on the creator economy
This piece is by WWSG exclusive thought leader, Sara Fischer.
The Ankler, the entertainment media startup from veteran Hollywood editor Janice Min and insider columnist Richard Rushfield, is launching an entertainment business trade publication dedicated to the creator economy called Like & Subscribe, CEO and co-founder Janice Min told Axios.
Why it matters: The expansion represents ways digital newsletter startups like The Ankler and Puck are putting pressure on Hollywood’s traditional stable of trade publications, most of which are owned by Penske Media Corporation.
Zoom in: The new product, authored by veteran tech and entertainment journalist Natalie Jarvey, will launch as a standalone Substack newsletter, separately from The Ankler, and will be priced at $129 a year to start.
- Like & Subscribe will launch as a weekly newsletter, and will eventually be accompanied by a podcast, events, and subscriber engagement features.
- Subscribers can purchase Like & Subscribe separately as a standalone publication. It will not be bundled with The Ankler, which still uses Substack as its main email tech provider.
- Its debut edition Wednesday will examine the complicated TikTok ban drama and its potential impact on the social media landscape.
- Jarvey worked with Min as the senior digital media editor at the Hollywood Reporter when Min was co-president. Most recently, she served as a Hollywood correspondent at Vanity Fair, and before that, she was the entertainment business correspondent and editor at Business Insider.
Zoom out: The Ankler has built its product offering from a single newsletter authored by one person at launch in 2022 to a suite of nearly a dozen specialized newsletters authored by roughly a dozen different full-time and part-time journalists.
- Today, it has more than 100,000 free email subscribers across various newsletters.
- The company last year expanded its reach to radio through a strategic partnership with LAist, Southern California Public Radio’s flagship station and digital news site.
- It also inked a deal with Letterboxd, a social network for movie fans, to produce Hollywood screening events.
Between the lines: The company, which has been profitable since its launch, relies on a combination of advertising, subscription and partnership revenue.
- In the past year, it’s brought on several editorial hires, including Alison Brower and David Lidsky as executive editors.
The big picture: The Ankler’s investment in creator economy coverage reflects an expanded definition of entertainment beyond film and television.
- Over the past few years, more influencers and social media stars have become embedded in music, movies and award shows.
What to watch: Min said Like & Subscribe could create a blueprint for the company to explore more standalone subscriptions from The Ankler in the future.
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