Discovery And AT&T Determine Board Of Directors For Merging Media Company

Andy Jassy, a longtime Amazon exec who became the company’s CEO last summer, made $212.7 million in total compensation in 2021, according to an SEC filing.

Bob Chapek, the Disney CEO who is under siege, hopefully does not watch much TV. If he does, he’ll see a succession of fellow CEOs who seem prone to self-destruction — Adam Neumann of WeWork, Travis Kalanick of Uber, Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos, etc. — portrayed on buzzy TV series. Viewing these shows back to back, the stolid Chapek might wonder whether the CEO is extinct as a folk hero.

ISS, an influential shareholder advisory firm, has recommended “withhold” votes for the three Discovery directors up for reelection at the April annual meeting “due to poor stewardship” in compensation.

AT&T has firmed up more details of its spinoff of WarnerMedia, which is poised to combine with Discovery in a $43 billion merger.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorBuzzFeed News editor-in-chief Mark Schoofs is stepping down, along with at least two other top editors, as the digital media company said it will be cutting jobs across the board.“After almost two rollicking and deeply fulfilling years as editor-in-chief, I’ve decided that it’s the right time to move on,” Schoofs wrote in an internal memo to staff Tuesday.In addition to Schoofs, BuzzFeed News deputy editor-in-chief Tom Namako announced that he is leaving to become executive editor of ‪NBC News‬⁩ Digital. In his memo, Schoofs had said Namako “would have been a natural successor” to take the EIC spot at BuzzFeed News.

Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel’s 2021 compensation reached $308.2 million, at least on paper, thanks to the company’s initial public offering last April.

Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, who has long espoused the benefits of streaming’s boom times, said he’s “not nervous” about Warner Bros Discovery possibly pumping the brakes as it looks to take on Netflix and Disney.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSamuel Di Piazza Jr. will serve as the chairman of Warner Bros.

William Earl Variety is pleased to welcome thought-leaders at the forefront of the global TV industry to share their strategies for success. Angela Colla, Head of International Sales, Globo; Carol Hanley, President, Whip Media; Lisa Holme, Group SVP of Content and Commercial Strategy for Discovery, Inc.; Miquel Penella, President, Streaming Services, AMC Networks; Rodrigo Mazón, EVP & GM of SVOD, Univision; and Jeff Shultz, Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer, Paramount Streaming, sit down with Variety International Editor, Manori Ravindran, for the panel discussion “Have Content, Will Travel: Strategies for Building a Global TV Audience,” airing March 29 in the Variety Streaming Room.  “Today’s streaming age is creating new possibilities for content to gain traction worldwide. In this highly competitive market, being armed with data capable of determining what titles have the strongest appeal — and why — is a major competitive advantage,” said Carol Hanley, President of Whip Media. Streaming has upended the business in a way no one ever imagined, but these companies are learning and creating strategies that will allow their businesses to expand in the years to come.

Paramount Global is temporarily halting its operations in Russia and giving $1 million to support humanitarian relief for Ukraine.

Warner Bros Discovery, the company created by merging Discovery Inc. and WarnerMedia, and signed a new employment agreement through the end of 2027.

Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s total pay package came to more than $246 million for 2021 as the company prepares to close its merger with WarnerMedia.

Eventually, HBO Max and Discovery+ will come together as a single streaming offering, but the integration will “take a while,” CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said at an investor conference today.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDiscovery investors voted in approval of the company’s $43 billion acquisition of WarnerMedia from AT&T to create Warner Bros. Discovery during a special meeting of stockholders Friday, marking one of the final formal steps before the transaction can close.The deal, a spinoff of WarnerMedia from AT&T, is expected to be completed early in Q2, with insiders telling Variety the estimated date is between April 11-28. The merger has already received approval from the U.S.

Discovery shareholders are set to OK the $43 billion merger with WarnerMedia on Friday, the last big step before AT&T completes the spinoff. Ahead of the deal’s expected close next month, a who’s-in/who’s-out parlor game is gaining intensity as CEO David Zaslav finalizes the leadership team.

Oprah is her OWN woman and her legacy is undeniable. Her influence is felt in nearly every part of the world as she shines her light like a beacon. In many regards, she is one of the greatest voices— if not the greatest voice — in pop culture in the modern day.

BTS‘ music label HYBE has been named the most innovative media company of 2022 by Fast Company.Business publication Fast Company had unveiled its lists of the most innovative companies for the year of 2022 on March 8, where it announced that HYBE, which houses a number of top K-pop acts including BTS and SEVENTEEN, had been named the most innovative media company for the year. The label had also come in as 11th overall on Fast Company‘s most innovative companies.HYBE was revered for “finding new ways to release content, reach listeners, and cultivate fandom worldwide”, ushering in a new era where “America’s hold on global pop culture is over”, per Fast Company. The outlet cited the company’s overwhelming success with BTS, as well as its acquisition of Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings last year, saying that HYBE is “creating the template for a 21st-century entertainment company as it pursues new technologies and content formats”.HYBE CEO Park Ji-won told Fast Company that this was an effort to “to diversify touch points between artists and fans and further build this intimacy” through forging “sincere [links]” between musicians and fans, which he describes as the company’s “most fundamental and powerful principle”.Speaking on HYBE’s acquisition of Ithaca Holdings, Scooter Braun explained the parallels between both companies’ visions.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDiscovery, Inc. president and CEO David Zaslav was awarded a one-time discretionary bonus of $4.4 million by the company’s board March 1 in honor of his “exceptional leadership” ahead of Discovery’s acquisition of WarnerMedia.Per a Monday SEC filing, “The Board approved the one-time bonus (which is in addition to the 2021 annual bonus that Mr.