AT&T's WarnerMedia & Discovery merger streaming consolidation 2 2

[Bosco685]

On 2/13/2022 at 8:06 AM, Mecha_Fantastic said:

Did this include Warner Games and subsidiaries? I thought it didn't, but now I'm confused. 

Great question.

WB Games Will Now Be Part of ‘Warner Bros. Discovery,’ a ‘Pure Play’ Content Company

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Following WarnerMedia’s merger with Discovery, Discovery CEO David Zaslav has announced that WB Games will be part of “Warner Bros. Discovery,” a “pure play content company” that also houses HBO, Warner Bros., Discovery, DC, CNN, Turner Sports, Cartoon Network, HGTV, Food Network, TNT, TBS, Turner Classic Movies, Wizarding World, Adult Swim, Eurosport, Magnolia, TLC, Animal Planet, and ID.

 

At the time of the merger’s announcement, there were speculations that WB Games will be split in some way. However, it looks like the entire label is under the new banner, keeping its studios together. There are currently 11 studios under WB Games, including Avalanche (Hogwarts Legacy), NetherRealm (Mortal Kombat), and Rocksteady (Batman Arkham).

 

[Cat]

On 2/13/2022 at 11:28 PM, Bosco685 said:

Great question.

WB Games Will Now Be Part of ‘Warner Bros. Discovery,’ a ‘Pure Play’ Content Company

 

Alright, thanks, Bosco. So there's stability for NRS after all. Sweet. Though it's already no doubt affected their current choice of game to some extent, I'd imagine. 

[kagenish]

On 2/13/2022 at 8:28 AM, Bosco685 said:

Great question.

WB Games Will Now Be Part of ‘Warner Bros. Discovery,’ a ‘Pure Play’ Content Company

 

that's good because it would have suck big time.

[kagenish]

On 2/13/2022 at 7:44 AM, Bosco685 said:

Lord, I hope so.

I had high hopes for Anne Sarnoff when she came over from BBC. But it sounds like she just blended in with the WB exec uglies quite nicely.

the big problem was AT&T not know what they were doing with WB and their leadership. 

[Bosco685]

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As federal regulators and other random bureaucrats remove their barriers, the long-awaited entity called Warner Bros. Discovery becomes a functioning reality in four short weeks.

 

So now starts the guessing game. Who will be anointed to fill the $43 billion power vacuum? Barred from occupying offices on the Warners lot or taking formal policy meetings, Zaslav has now concluded his yearlong “listening tour” and is mobilized for action.

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The “insider” newsletters and tip sheets bristle with rumors of departures including those of Kilar, touted as a techno-maven, and Ann Sarnoff, who registered little impact as chairman of WarnerMedia.

 

Having heard it all on his “listening tour,” Zaslav is keenly aware of the mythic mistakes of past corporate owners. There was Viacom’s Sumner Redstone who hired his personal estate attorney to replace a respected CEO, Tom Freston, triggering the studio’s downward spiral. Kirk Kerkorian, though a brilliant trader, brought in David Begelman, an embezzler who had narrowly escaped jail, to run MGM. More recently, Warners’ board named Kevin Tsujihara to run Warners despite his apparent absence of “industry savvy.”

 

[Bosco685]

Toby Emmerich and Walter Hamada are having news pieces dropped to convince Discovery they have been behind all the DC successes. Even with Joker, which they wanted nothing to do with so WB Studios forced the producer to find two other companies to fund the film before approval.

[Bosco685]

Discovery Raising $30 Billion In Mega Debt Sale To Fund Pending WarnerMedia Merger

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Discovery on Wednesday priced $30 billion in senior unsecured notes in a debt offering to raise cash for its merger with WarneMedia.

 

It is part of the complex transaction first unveiled in May that’s near to closing, with the second half of April looking good. Discovery shareholders must formally approve the merger and are set to do so at a special shareholders’ meeting Friday. Then it’s a technical issue of AT&T spinning off its media and entertainment business.

 

[Bosco685]

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Top managers who have been with the exec for years will be sticking around, working with a few battle-tested Warner execs, though likely without others. Kevin Mayer, the former Disney exec known for leading the launch of Disney+ and a string of M&A deals, is helping to shape the new org chart as a high-level consultant to Zaslav. The structure will be leaner and less top-heavy than what Warner vets are accustomed to as they settle into a third corporate ownership group in four years.

 

“Zas doesn’t do layers,” pronounced a former colleague.

 

While Mayer himself has been buzzed about for a top job, multiple people familiar with the discussions indicate he is more likely to continue as an advisor, which is said to be a very lucrative gig and hardly his only one. Mayer is also chairman of sports streaming outlet DAZN and also just teamed with fellow Disney alum Tom Staggs to launch Candle Media, a media venture backed by $2 billion in funding from private equity firm Blackstone.

 

“Kevin has a big brain,” Zaslav said on a recent earnings call. “He’s super excited about getting in the car with us.”

 

[Bosco685]

 

[Bosco685]

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Discovery — which is about to become Warner Bros. Discovery within the next month, when its merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia closes — has confirmed its plans to combine its current streaming service Discovery Plus and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max into one service, rather than offer the two platforms as a bundle. However, the first step during integration will be some form of bundling, while the new company figures out the best way to merge the two platforms.

 

Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said Monday during the Deutsche Bank 30th Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference Discovery is making longterm preparations to combine the two streamers, and offer ad-free and ad-lite products.

 

“The combination could not make more sense than what we’re doing here,” Wiedenfels, who will serve as CFO of the newly combined Warner Bros. Discovery, said. “We have HBO Max, with a more premium, male-skewing positioning, and then you’ve got the the female-positioning on the Discovery side. You’ve got the daily engagement that people enjoy with Discovery content versus sort of the event-driven nature of the HBO Max content. Take that together, I have no doubt that we will be creating one of the most complete, sort of four quadrant, old-young-male-female products out there. And I’m really excited about it. I can’t wait to see the first combined direct-to-consumer metrics because, in theory, the acquisition power of HBO Max, combined with the retention power of the Discovery content I think is going to make for a blowout DTC product, and that should certainly drive very healthy revenue growth for years to come.”

 

[Bosco685]

 

[Bosco685]

 

[D84]

It's house cleaning time.

[Bosco685]

On 4/5/2022 at 6:12 PM, D84 said:

It's house cleaning time.

[paperheart]

Toby Emmerich continues as Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, with responsibility for Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, DC-based films and Warner Bros. Feature Animation.

[Bosco685]

On 4/7/2022 at 7:03 PM, paperheart said:

Toby Emmerich continues as Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, with responsibility for Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, DC-based films and Warner Bros. Feature Animation.

His contract expires in November. And they took streaming productions away from him and gave it to the Discovery executive. 

Edited April 7, 2022 by Bosco685

[Bosco685]

Toby Emmerich Floated for a New Job [MAY 5, 2021]

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With 18 months left on his contract, is Warners film studio chairman Toby Emmerich exploring job opportunities? While it is far from clear that Emmerich will leave the studio after more than 20 years, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that David Geffen in recent weeks placed a call to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos to inquire whether there might be a possible role for Emmerich at Netflix.

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A WarnerMedia rep, when asked for comment about Emmerich, confirmed that the exec is under contract and stated, “Any other speculation is just that, speculation,” noting that he “has a wonderful relationship with [studio chief] Ann Sarnoff and there is no truth to the rumors.”

Warner Bros Discovery Leadership Structure Is Set: Bigger Roles For JB Perrette, Kathleen Finch, Bruce Campbell

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[J-B] Perrette, who was president and CEO, Discovery Streaming and International, will take on the role of CEO and President, Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment. He will have responsibility for HBO Max and Discovery+, as well as all direct-to-consumer and gaming around the world. David Haddad, President Warner Bros. Games, will report to Perrette.

[D84]

On 4/7/2022 at 6:28 PM, Bosco685 said:

Toby Emmerich Floated for a New Job [MAY 5, 2021]

Warner Bros Discovery Leadership Structure Is Set: Bigger Roles For JB Perrette, Kathleen Finch, Bruce Campbell

Toby Emmerich is like a floater in the toilet.

[Bosco685]

On 4/7/2022 at 8:32 PM, D84 said:

Toby Emmerich is like a floater in the toilet.

Truer words have never been spoken. Well, other than when studio insider reporter ViewAnon posted this just the other day.

Emmerich was the head of New Line Cinema before moving over to WB Studios, and part of his value proposition was driving all the film budgets down to deliver productions on the cheap. Which then when he came over to WB he wanted the same mandate in place.

[Bosco685]

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This week, the AT&T/Time Warner era will officially come to a close. As Discovery combines with Warner Bros., it will mark an end to one of the most disastrous mergers in media history, perhaps second only to the AOL/Time Warner union in 2000.

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“AT&T was a really stressful experience,” he said.

 

AT&T was also stressful for Time Warner employees — who ended up on the receiving end of disruption.

 

The company had been through the wringer once already, when AOL bought it in 2000, in what is still widely recognized as the worst deal in American corporate history.

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Stankey, whom Stephenson entrusted to oversee its integration, would later tell confidants that the case was the main reason the merger failed.

 

“Stankey believed firmly that was what put the company behind the eight ball,” says one former WarnerMedia executive. “There was nearly a year and a half where we were unable to start launching our streaming service and that delay cost us first-mover advantage.”

 

HBO Max would ultimately be unveiled to the world on May 27, 2020, more than six months after Disney launched Disney Plus. By then, the COVID-19 pandemic had forced a shutdown of film and TV production, disrupting the studio’s content pipeline. When production resumed, the pandemic brought added costs and delays.

 

But the problems went much deeper. When Bewkes sold the company, he seemed to assume that his executive team would be left alone to run it. Stephenson and Stankey had different ideas. According to the book “Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers,” Stankey told employees that AT&T had paid a premium for Time Warner, and so by definition “something has to change” to justify it.

A very interesting article that outlines how AT&T wanted to compete with Facebook directly and thought to achieve this by purchasing Time-Warner but then didn't know how to make sense of it all.