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

[thunsicker]

Anyone else worried about what this merger means for HBO?

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He pointed out that HBO’s recent run of scripted dramas, including “Euphoria,” “The Gilded Age” and “Succession,” seemed more than sufficient for the network.

“Would HBO be doing a lot better if it had three more really successful scripted series at this moment?” Mr. Zaslav said in February. “It’s not clear that they would be.”

Is HBO going to start following Discovery's low cost reality tv paradigm?

[Bosco685]

[Bosco685]

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AT&T and Discovery have closed their $43 billion deal that will combine Discovery with WarnerMedia, the company confirmed in an internal memo that was reviewed by Axios.

 

Why it matters: Warner Bros. Discovery, as the newly combined company will be known, immediately becomes one of the entertainment industry's biggest players alongside Disney and Netflix.

 

Details: Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav will lead the new company.

• Warner Bros. Discovery will house under one roof: Warner Bros. studio, cable channels including TNT, TBS, Discovery, HGTV and premium network HBO, and a trio of streaming services in HBO Max, Discovery+ and CNN+.
• Zaslav installed most of his Discovery leadership into similar positions with Warner Bros. Discovery, with J.B. Perrette leading the streaming business, Gunnar Wiedenfels as CFO and Kathleen Finch in charge of cable networks.
• Jon Steinlauf will serve as chief U.S. advertising sales officer.
• Warner Bros. Discovery still needs heads of sports and diversity and inclusion.
• WarnerMedia let go of nine top execs ahead of the deal's closing:
  • HBO Max chief Andy Forssell
  • CRO Tony Goncalves
  • CTO Richard Tom
  • CFO Jennifer Biry
  • Exec vp and chief human resources officer Jim Cummings
  • Exec vp communications and chief inclusion officer Christy Haubegger
  • WarnerMedia general counsel Jim Meza
  • Warner Bros. chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff
  • WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar
• Those remaining with the new company include:
  • Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich
  • Warner Bros. TV group chairman Channing Dungey
  • International president Gerhard Zeiler
  • HBO and HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys
  • Chris Licht was previously named head of CNN after Jeff Zucker's ouster

• What's next:

  • Warner Bros. Discovery will begin trading on the Nasdaq next week under the stock ticker "WBD"

  • Discovery executives have confirmed they plan to roll up Discovery+ and HBO Max into a combined offering, along with CNN+. That's likely to start out as a bundle, similar to how Disney sells Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+

  • Warner Bros. Discovery will also quickly get to make its pitch to advertisers with Upfront season on the horizon.

 

[Bosco685]

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With the merger done, Warner Bros. Discovery will hold a combined upfront presentation that will see the company sell all of its media brands, from HBO Max, TNT, and TBS, to HGTV, Discovery, and Food Network.

 

The company will make its presentation on Wednesday, May 18 at The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden (it’s the theater that sits underneath the famous arena), taking over the space that in recent years (pre-COVID, at least) was used by WarnerMedia to make its pitch to marketers and advertisers.

 

[WolverineX]

On 4/12/2022 at 9:17 AM, Bosco685 said:

 

I saw my ATT stock split into ATT and WBD recently.   Interesting times

[Bosco685]

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At WarnerMedia, the execs were layered, reporting to Ann Sarnoff, who in turn reported to Jason Kilar, who in turn reported to AT&T boss John Stankey. Now they will report directly to the CEO.

 

The new WB Discovery structure stands in contrast to the one Disney CEO Bob Chapek put in place at his company, with all of Disney’s top creative execs reporting to one of his top deputies, Kareem Daniel. That move caused friction among Disney’s creatives who were suddenly reporting to a business exec with no creative experience, but who would have the power to determine what got the green light and which platform they would live on.

Accountability is surely what WB has been lacking.

[Bosco685]

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t’s been less than a week since Discovery closed its $43 billion deal for WarnerMedia, joining one of the largest producers of reality programming with one of the most venerable entertainment brands under the new moniker of Warner Bros. Discovery. David Zaslav, the CEO of the combined companies, and top leadership have been toying with the idea of turning DC into its own solidified content vertical, the sources said.

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Before the merger closed, Zaslav vetted candidates with experience in creating and nurturing blockbuster intellectual property with a goal of potentially finding someone to serve as a creative and strategic czar similar to what Marvel has in Kevin Feige. One of those candidates included Emma Watts, a former top film executive at 20th Century Studios and Paramount, but it does not appear that Watts will take the job. One insider suggested that Zaslav was less interested in finding a creative guru and more eager to hire someone who had the type of business background needed to keep all the different factions at DC working more harmoniously.

 

Insiders say that Zaslav believes that the success of the merger, one that has left the company highly leveraged, will rest in no small part on unlocking the full potential of the DC Comics universe of characters. Discovery insiders believe that although DC has achieved cinematic success with recent films such as “Aquaman” and “The Batman,” it lacks a coherent creative and brand strategy. Discovery believes that several top-shelf characters such as Superman have been left to languish and need to be revitalized. They also believe that projects like Todd Phillips’ “Joker” are a shining example of how second-billed characters from the DC library can and should be exploited (Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is another example).

 

[thunsicker]

On 4/14/2022 at 2:56 PM, Bosco685 said:

top leadership have been toying with the idea of turning DC into its own solidified content vertical, the sources said

What is that in English?  I'm hoping that doesn't mean that it would be leaving HBO Max for it's own streaming service, but since I don't speak Hollywood business lingo I'm not sure.

[Bosco685]

On 4/14/2022 at 5:38 PM, thunsicker said:

What is that in English?  I'm hoping that doesn't mean that it would be leaving HBO Max for it's own streaming service, but since I don't speak Hollywood business lingo I'm not sure.

DC Studios use to have its own production studio. Then for the sake of corporate economies of scale (corporate speak for "we can do this cheaper") they decided everything should be run through WB Studios, giving it complete control of DC films and TV shows.

If this news turns into reality, like Marvel Studios this would be a standalone entity within Warner Media/Discovery accountable for its own properties and productions. Including the profit and loss accountability.

Or in simpler terms...

[D84]

On 4/14/2022 at 4:44 PM, Bosco685 said:

 

It looks like she's signing to cup her boobs and put sprinkles on them.

[Bosco685]

On 4/14/2022 at 7:04 PM, D84 said:

It looks like she's signing to cup her boobs and put sprinkles on them.

Exactly!

[WolverineX]

On 4/14/2022 at 5:44 PM, Bosco685 said:

DC Studios use to have its own production studio. Then for the sake of corporate economies of scale (corporate speak for "we can do this cheaper") they decided everything should be run through WB Studios, giving it complete control of DC films and TV shows.

If this news turns into reality, like Marvel Studios this would be a standalone entity within Warner Media/Discovery accountable for its own properties and productions. Including the profit and loss accountability.

Or in simpler terms...

confused by the gif,  but I do like the standalone DC company.  let's get a unified universe

[Bosco685]

On 4/14/2022 at 11:04 PM, Wolverinex said:

confused by the gif,  but I do like the standalone DC company.  let's get a unified universe

Some additional details.

 

[The humble Watcher lurking]

On 4/15/2022 at 7:01 AM, Bosco685 said:

Some additional details.

 

I really hope we get a Man of Steel part 2 movie. 

[Bosco685]

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As predicted by Deadline’s analysis last week, London-based Dogra takes on a President and Managing Director EMEA role (excluding Poland), having done similar for Warner Media she will now oversee the company’s combined significant footprint across the region, according to Zeiler.

 

Nordics and UK head James Gibbons moves to Australia, New Zealand and Japan, with Dogra taking his place following an interim period.

Kasia Kieli, who was previously President and MD, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, becomes President & Managing Director, Poland and CEO of Discovery channel TVN, which is something of a demotion for Kieli.

Priya Dogra with that early international release statement...

 

[Bosco685]

Variety reporter covering the WB/Discovery earnings call.

 

[Bosco685]

Housecleaning still happening

Johanna Fuentes to Exit as Warner Bros. Communications Chief, Tom Ascheim, former head of the Kids and Family division as well

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Johanna Fuentes is about to exit her post as head of global communications for WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group. Tom Ascheim, former head of the Kids and Family division, is also leaving in the latest round of high-level executive changes spurred by the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger.

 

Fuentes joined the studio in 2020 as executive vice president of worldwide communications after a long tenure in communications at Showtime. She is expected to remain at Warner Bros. for about another month to help with the post-merger transition. AT&T spun off its WarnerMedia unit into a merger with Discovery that was completed last month.

 

[Bosco685]

Very interest on that Comms exec dismissal.

[Bosco685]

 

[Bosco685]