David Zaslav Tells CinemaCon “We Do Not Believe In Direct-To-Streaming Movies”

Fox unveiled its 2023/24 programming slate this morning and the writers strike was front and center.

Students at Boston University will have to cross a Writers Guild picket line to attend their May 21 graduation ceremony, where Warner Bros. Discovery President & CEO David Zaslav, an alumnus of the school, will be making the commencement address.

Stockholders have expressed serious displeasure with 2022 executive compensation at Warner Bros. Discovery led by CEO David Zaslav, according to the result of a vote at the annual meeting Monday that was filed with the SEC today.

Kristin Dolan, who took over earlier this year as CEO of AMC Networks, said the company is “very well positioned” to manage through the WGA strike.

As if movie fans needed another reason to be wary of new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav: Deadline reports that the CEO told the hosts of the CNBC show “Squawk Box” that “a love for working” will be what ultimately ends the current WGA writers’ strike.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor David Zaslav and his team could be forgiven for sounding a little stressed on Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q1 earnings call. The company’s numbers were pretty grim for a CEO who prizes his free cash flow. The Warner Bros. Discovery chief was fired up about a number of issues affecting the studio behind the shield, and he fired off verbal volleys, pop culture quotes and metaphors, invoking everything from military terminology to Formula 1 racing to “The Blues Brothers.” But the liveliest moment of the hourlong conference call with Wall Street analysts was Zaslav’s discussion of subscriber churn rates and how they differ between HBO Max and Discovery+, the two streamers that are set to be married and relaunch as a joint product dubbed Max on May 23.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav weighed in on CNN’s controversial decision to host a live town-hall format Q&A with former President Donald Trump — defending the decision as needing to represent “both sides.” “The U.S. has a divided government. We need to hear both voices,” Zaslav said, speaking Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” when asked about Trump’s scheduled May 10 appearance on CNN. “Republicans are on the air on CNN, Democrats are on the air… When we do politics, we need to represent both sides. I think it’s important for America.” Zaslav continued about Trump, “He’s the front-runner — he has to be on our network. We’re happy he’s coming on there.”

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav responded to the writers strike following the release of the company’s Q1 earnings report Friday, shooting down claims that some companies are “glad” that the the Writers Guild of America (WGA) is picketing instead of writing. “We’re not glad,” Zaslav said during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Day 4 of the writers strike. “In order to create great storytelling, we need great writers, and we need the whole industry to work together,” the WBD chief said. “And everybody deserves to be paid fairly. So our number one focus is, let’s try and get this resolved. Let’s do it in a way that that the writers feel that they’re valued, which they are, and they’re compensated fairly. And then off we go. Let’s tell great stories together.”

Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav has said the company’s U.S. streaming operation is “no longer bleeding” after it posted a $50M profit for Q1 this year. “It’s harder to run a business when you have a big bleeder,” he told investors on an earnings call minutes ago.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery posted a first-quarter loss, buffeted not only by the dynamics of streaming video that are eroding traditional media-industry economics, but also by charges related to the 2022 merger that created the company out of the former WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. The owner of HBO, TNT and the Discovery Channel said its loss of $1.069 billion included $1.81 billion of “acquisition-related intangible assets and $95 million of pre-tax restructuring expenses.” The company also indicated that the debt it took on to finance the merger was affecting its financials. Warner Bros. Discovery had $836 million of “semi-annual interest payments largely attributable to merger-related debt that overwhelmed its cash flow.

Warner Bros Discovery matched Wall Street estimates for revenue in the first quarter, with $10.7 billion, but posted a wider-than-expected loss due to tough comparisons with the year-ago period.

Max brand name on May 23, the entertainment giant revealed it had added 1.6 million streaming subscribers during the quarter for a total of 97.6 million globally.The direct to consumer division reported a profit of $50 million, a $704 million year-over-year improvement on a pro forma combined basis. Revenue for the segment fell 2% year over year to $2.455 billion, including $2.165 billion in distribution revenue, $103 million in advertising revenue and $185 million in content revenue.

Almost all late-night talk shows, from to, will cease production for likely the whole duration of the strike. During Monday's show, Colbert ran through a number of «news stories» from the future after explaining that the writers are «so important to our show… and this nation owes so much to unions.» As for, the NBC sketch comedy series will air reruns instead of producing new episodes, meaning that Pete Davidson's upcoming debut as host «canceled due to the writers’ strike.»One show that will air as usual is Greg Gutfeld's Fox News program,, which ET has learned «is not impacted by the strike.» With the 2023 TV premiere schedule already mapped out until the end of August, there will not likely be an immediate impact on any current programming rolling out over the next few months — especially most series that have already completed writing scripts on upcoming episodes. For example, «a source close to production [on ] tells that scripts on the hit show have been done for some time, and that filming on the second season won't be affected.»When it comes to Netflix, CEO Ted Sarandos has said, «We have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Writer and comedian Adam Conover blasted David Zaslav, the Warner Bros Discovery CEO, during an interview with CNN on Tuesday, a company Zaslav also oversees. “David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of the network I’m talking to you on right now, was paid $250 million last year, a quarter of a billion dollars,” Conover said during his interview with CNN correspondent Sara Sidner. “That’s about the same level as what 10,000 writers are asking him to pay all of us collectively, alright. So I would say if you’re being paid $250 million — these companies are making enormous amounts of money. Their profits are going up. It’s ridiculous for them to plead poverty.”

unable to reach a deal in contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.The guild has shared an infographic that outlines the $773 million in combined salary that eight major Hollywood studio CEOs made in 2021. They include Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel ($308.2 million), Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. provided a super-eventful presentation at CinemaCon 2023 Tuesday morning.

Max streaming service, David Zaslav and Warner Bros. embraced theatrical as they showed off their upcoming 2023 slate at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.Zaslav made his debut at the movie theater trade show on Tuesday with a lengthy speech that earned plenty of applause from cinema execs, especially when he reaffirmed his company’s plans to never go back to the day-and-date releasing model that his predecessor, Jason Kilar, rolled out for all of Warner’s theatrical releases in 2021. “We believe in full theatrical windows, we don’t believe in direct to streaming.

It really does feel like a lifetime ago when Warner Bros. defiantly said, during the beginning of the pandemic, that every film released in 2021 was going to hit theaters and streaming on the same day.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav came to Las Vegas to put all of his chips on movie theaters. The executive made an appearance at CinemaCon, the annual convention of theatrical exhibitors, to reassure the crowd that the Warner Bros. Pictures Group was not interested in releasing its premium movies directly to streaming platform Max. “At Warner Bros., at DC Studios, we believe that everything is possible. This business could be bigger and stronger than its ever been,” Zaslav said on stage at Caesar’s Palace on Tuesday. “We believe in full windowing of the motion pictures. We do not want to do direct-to-streaming movies. We’re in no rush to bring the movie to Max.”

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has learned that Warner Bros Discovery CEO and President, David Zaslav, will be teeing off Warner Bros studio presentation at CinemaCon on Tuesday AM, April 25.