Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterBrad Wilson, HBO Max’s U.S. general manager and EVP of global data, CRM and growth, is exiting amid an ongoing shakeup at new company Warner Bros.
26.04.2022 - 15:33 / deadline.com
In Warner Bros Discovery’s first earnings call with Wall Street analysts, CEO David Zaslav re-emphasized his plan to take a prudent approach to streaming as he guides the newly merged company.
“Our goal is to maximize long-term shareholder value and asset value, not just subs,” he said. “We will not overspend to drive subscribers.”
The comments follow his earlier pronouncement that the company will not “try to win the spending wars” in streaming. Netflix, which is shelling out $20 billion this year for content, is suddenly on the back foot despite leading the field, due to subscriber losses and new questions about its business model. Warner Bros. Discovery is staking out a more moderate path with its twin services, HBO Max and Discovery+, which will soon be combined in a single offering.
Zaslav also highlighted the company’s plan for its May 18 upfront, which will be the new company’s coming-out party for advertisers. The portfolio of networks, spanning scripted, unscripted, news, sports and lifestyle, give the company “a unique hand,” Zaslav said.
Prior to the call, Warner Bros Discovery announced results for the first quarter but only for Discovery, given that the combination with WarnerMedia did not close until after the end of the March 31 quarter. Total revenue increased 13% to $3.16 billion, with U.S. advertising revenue up 5% and distribution revenue up 11%.
The company’s earnings release said ad revenue increased thanks to the “continued monetization of content offerings on our next generation initiatives.” Offsetting the upswing was a factor that will shadow the new company and its sprawling array of legacy assets: “secular declines in the pay-TV ecosystem and lower overall ratings.”
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Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterBrad Wilson, HBO Max’s U.S. general manager and EVP of global data, CRM and growth, is exiting amid an ongoing shakeup at new company Warner Bros.
Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterBrett Weitz is exiting as general manager of TBS, TNT and truTV, Variety has learned.Weitz, who was appointed to the role in January 2019, was among the group of WarnerMedia execs that came over under the new David Zaslav-selected regime at Warner Bros. Discovery, following the close of the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger in early April.Weitz was moved under Discovery lifestyle channels chief Kathleen Finch, who assumed a newly created role of chairman and chief content officer of U.S.
Warner Bros Discovery UK EVP & Country Manager, UK & Ireland, Polly Cochrane is stepping down after 13 years.
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Variety, which first reported the news, part of the terms of them joining would be having access as producers to DC Entertainment with the rights to develop characters and properties, with DC a major priority for Warner Bros. Discovery under its new leadership from CEO David Zaslav. However, any new agreement with De Luca and Abdy would not be completed until they’ve officially exited Amazon.
Michael De Luca and his partner Pamela Abdy are in talks to join Warner Bros. Discovery as film executives, multiple insiders familiar with the situation told Variety.Scenarios being discussed include having De Luca and Abdy launch a movie label within the Warner Bros. Pictures group, or enlisting them to take roles within that division itself.
reorganized its marketing department once again, axing writers on its fledgling Tudum fan site five months after launch. And the fallout from the Warner Bros.
The newly-formed Warner Bros Discovery Sports is launching The Power Of Sport, a cross-platform magazine show that will run for 18 weeks in Europe. Premiering May 4 on Eurosport 1, discovery+ and Eurosport’s digital platform, the show looks to take fans deeper into human stories and issues in a “bold and powerful” take on the sporting week.
Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAfter years of companies spending like drunken sailors on streaming video, some are now suffering hangovers.Netflix, in the first quarter of 2022, lost customers for the first time in more than a decade. It could shed 2 million more in Q2. The streaming giant is scrambling to find new sources of revenue growth, with execs hoping to monetize password-sharing freeloaders and — previously unthinkable at the Big Red N — planning to introduce advertising-supported plans.CNN+, hailed as a bridge to the news cabler’s future, is DOA: It’s getting axed 32 days after launch under new management at Warner Bros.
The new Warner Bros. Discovery leadership is starting to unify its policies across the two parts of the company. I hear that Adria Alpert Romm, chief people and culture officer, sent an email this morning to WarnerMedia employees about the implementation of a new hybrid work schedule.
Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterThe trade organization representing American movie theater owners isn’t gloating about Netflix’s recent stock misfortunes — they’re opening their arms, they say.At CinemaCon, the annual Las Vegas convention of theatrical exhibitors, leadership from the National Association of Theatre Owners touched on Netflix’s recent subscriber losses and subsequent jaw-dropping $54 billion loss in market cap.Netflix’s sign of softening brought a screeching halt to the prevailing industry logic that going all-in on streaming investment was the way to please shareholders. While some speculated this would benefit traditional theatrical releases, Warner Bros.
TNT and TBS are moving out of the scripted game under new parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, which under CEO David Zaslav has promised $3 billion in cost savings in the post-WarnerMedia merger era, Variety has learned exclusively.The WarnerMedia-run cable channels will no longer develop new scripted content, two sources close to the matter tell Variety.
the Q1 earnings were released. “As you’ve heard me say, we are not trying to win the direct-to-consumer spending war,” the WBD chief said, instead promising that the newly combined WarnerMedia-Discovery company would “invest in scale smartly.”He already made the first difficult choice within the first week after Discovery closed its $43 billion acquisitor of the larger WarnerMedia: Zaslav, notorious in the industry for being a no-nonsense cost-cutter, decided to close down the much-hyped CNN+.
millions of paying customers may cancel in the months ahead.In the first earnings report since Discovery’s $43 billion acquisition of the iconic Warner Bros. studios, the entertainment giant reported the former Discover business reported that profit increased to $456 million, compared with $140 million, in the year-ago period , while revenue jumped 13% to nearly $3.2 billion.
Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterIn the wake of big spender Netflix’s Q1 shocking subscriber loss news, David Zaslav made a point to say Warner Bros. Discovery “will not overspend to drive subscriber growth” during Discovery’s first-quarter earnings call Tuesday.“As you’ve heard me say, we are not trying to win the direct-to-consumer spending war,” the WBD CEO said, instead promising that the newly combined WarnerMedia-Discovery company would “invest in scale smartly.”Warner Bros.
Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterWarner Bros. Discovery and AT&T each ended the trading week with their respective shares selling at a 3% increase from where the stocks opened Monday.The newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery, born out of the $43 billion merger of Discovery, Inc.
David Zaslav expressed a lot of excitement for the future of his newly merged company on Thursday during a company town hall with Oprah Winfrey at the Warner Bros. Burbank lot, he was vague on details for some immediate issues, including where $3 billion in planned cuts will come from. When asked by Winfrey about the cuts, Zaslav said that his transition team is still in the process of sifting through assets from both sides of the new company to determine where such cuts could be made.
Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav and other top execs are meeting with employees in a town hall this morning on the Warner lot in Burbank. It’s the first large-scale staff meeting since last Friday’s close of the $43 billion merger.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav brought out the big guns during his address to the new company at its first global town hall for employees Thursday.The newly merged company brought out its most famous employee, Oprah Winfrey, to moderate the event and to help introduce Zaslav to Hollywood.Winfrey is a longtime supporter of the media mogul, who has championed the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) — a cable channel jointly jointed by Warner Bros. Discovery and Harpo Studio — alongside her since its launch in 2011.
AT&T’s stock price on Monday jumped 8%, to $19.67, as a probable result of Friday’s closure of the deal. The Warner Bros. Discovery share price dipped to $24.48 in after-hours trading, but the start and finish were close enough that the day could hardly be called a roller coaster.Monday was the first day of public trading for Warner Bros.