Warner Media/Discovery joint venture; thoughts and discussion

Reads more like underestimation of prestige TV to me.

Well, not everyone in the biz views this merger in a negative light. Cinemark executives have actually praised both the WarnerDiscovery and the MGM/Amazon deals as a way to help bolster film production.

The worst we can probably expect is a lateral move considering how AT&T has been running things.

Looks like Reed Hastings has a job offer for Jason Kilar.

Lol.

Might want to elaborate there.

A correction was already issued.

Double lol.

Looks like we got some word on the future of WB Games. AT&T and WarnerMedia are selling off Playdemic to EA while the rest of WB Games will remain at the newly merged company.

I had literally never heard about Playdemic before so it doesn't seem like a big loss. At the very least Mortal Kombat isn't in EA's grubby paws.

OTOH, it does put Zaslav's commitment to the video game industry in open question. What happens if other studios are next to get sold? Even if they're not losing money?

It's officially complete. Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery, with a new, yet familiar logo and website.

At close of the WarnerMedia spinoff, AT&T had said it expected to reap $43 billion (and the new WBD to assume up to approximately $43 billion of additional debt). AT&T aimed to use the proceeds from the Warner Media spinoff to pay down net debt, which stood at $156.2 billion at the end of 2021.

Per Warner Bros. Discovery’s Friday release announcing the closed transaction, “AT&T received $40.4 billion in cash and Warner Media’s retention of certain debt. Additionally, shareholders of AT&T received 0.241917 shares of WBD for each share of AT&T common stock they held at close. As a result, AT&T shareholders received 1.7 billion shares of WBD, representing 71% of WBD shares on a fully diluted basis.” AT&T had put in the disclaimer “$43 billion (subject to adjustments)” in prior announcements.

According to WBD, “Discovery’s existing shareholders own the remainder of the new company. In addition to their new shares of WBD common stock, AT&T shareholders continue to hold the same number of shares of AT&T common stock they held immediately prior to close.”

Thought I'd bump this in light of all the news (and rumors) surrounding the merger lately.

The investor relations presentation is at 4:30 EST, here's the official webcast.

Edited by lbssb on Aug 4th 2022 at 6:44:26 AM

Honestly appreciate the link, hoping I'll be able to listen in.

Dunno if this would be the more appropriate thread for the list 48 hours of news for HBO Max because I wanna scream into all the pillows.

Well, for those not following the discussion that sprung out of the DC thread or isn't on various fan fora or Film Twitter/Reddit:

• WB has axed 'Batgirl' and the sequel to 'Scoob', both of which were nearing completion, as as tax writeoffs. They will not be released in either theaters or HBO Max.
• HBO Max is likely going to get gutted: They're quietly removing underperforming Max Originals from the platform and TheWrap reports that 70% of the streamer's development staff will be laid off. By all accounts, WB will be prioritizing less scripted content.
• Rumblings are that HBO and HBO Max will be folded INTO Discovery+ and not the other way around.

The latter point is the one that confuses me most from a branding perspective, so take with however much salt you need. HBO is the grandaddy of Prestige TV and still has a lot of current awards season darlings (Succession, Barry) in addition to their their back catalog (the likes of The Sopranos and Game of Thrones), while Max has been greenlighting a lot of eccentric shows (Our Flag Means Death, for one).

Ahead of the likely purge, Forbes has put out an article distinguishing which shows are with HBO and which shows are with HBO Max, acknowledging that this list might look really different in a few days:

Edited by Synchronicity on Aug 4th 2022 at 10:53:51 AM

Yeah uh it's unlikely those upcoming shows come out now?

I'm concerned with Hazbin Hotel as it's rumored that it will stream on HBO Max. Although given that the series with with A24 (an independent company) would they be able to jump ship and go elsewhere if they were originally premiering on Max?

I mean, I remember reading that A24 was making HBO Max its primary home by way of putting most of its movies there. Earlier, I would've thought Hazbin would be no exception, but if WBD is going to continue imploding because its current boss is a gargantuan idiot putting too much stock in unscripted BS, then I don't see why A24 wouldn't at least think about taking their business elsewhere.

I'm asking about this in particular because the series is currently in development so I don't no if an independent work can just up and leave during production and find somebody else.

Zaslav, surveying the industry, argues that Discovery, with its low programming cost and recognizable brands, has the best blend of them all. Scripted drama? Please. “It’s like a kids’ soccer game–everyone saw something that worked and started chasing the ball. It’s way too expensive.”

Then why buy a movie producing company??????

Warner Bros Discovery confirms cuts for kids and animated content

David Zaslav on cancelling ‘BATGIRL’ — “We’re not going to put a movie out unless we believe in it, particularly with DC.”

Edited by NoName999 on Aug 4th 2022 at 3:32:48 AM

An objectively funny image, tweeted by a Decider editor:

Anyway, news thus far:

• Merged company is down $2B but the subscriber base is up (they say) [1]
• We are def getting a new app in Summer of next year [2]

• Kid's and family content will face cuts [3]
• DC to get a "10-year-plan" and dedicated creative team [4]

Edited by Synchronicity on Aug 4th 2022 at 5:33:31 AM

I searched that IGN review and it's basically "yeah, it's good if you like food shows. Good interface".

Guy Fieri heading to flavour Town. Grilling in the name off.

What I got is discovery's catalogue entire catalogue consists of awful trashy reality shows

One example: Here Comes Honey Boo Boo

Which was actually created by Zaslav himself

That's still on?

I thought it got cancelled after the mothers boyfriend turned out to be a pedophile.

Oh its cancelled of course, its just ya know part of their "prestigious" catalogue

Cause thats the kind of shit Discovery makes

Edited by slimcoder on Aug 4th 2022 at 3:59:47 AM

How likely would this cause different studios to start abandoning Warner on mass?