AT&T to spin off and combine WarnerMedia with Discovery in deal that would create streaming giant
3 years, 7 months ago

AT&T to spin off and combine WarnerMedia with Discovery in deal that would create streaming giant

CNN  

New York CNN Business — The streaming TV race is about to get even more competitive. “AT&T would receive $43 billion in a combination of cash, debt securities, and WarnerMedia’s retention of certain debt,” Monday’s announcement said. At the time, Zaslav told CNN that discovery+ was a “great complement to someone who has Disney or Netflix, or HBO, Disney and Netflix.” Zaslav also emphasized Discovery’s global reach. Stankey said the combination will support HBO Max’s global growth “and create efficiencies which can be re-invested in producing more great content to give consumers what they want.” Zaslav said Discovery and Warner currently spend a total of $20 billion a year on content. Zaslav, a longtime friend of CNN Worldwide chief Jeff Zucker, said at the press conference, “We love CNN… We think one of the true differentiators of the future is live news, live sports.”

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History of this topic

Warner Bros. Discovery strikes new distribution deal with Comcast
2 weeks, 1 day ago

Warner Bros. Discovery strikes new distribution deal with Comcast

LA Times  

Discovery has taken steps to strengthen its economic footing with a major channel distribution deal. The company announced Monday that it had reached an agreement for cable giant Comcast Corp. to continue carrying Warner Bros. Discovery’s linear cable channels, including HBO, TNT, HGTV, Food Network, CNN and Animal Planet. The deal also expands Comcast’s ability to offer Warner Bros. Discovery’s …

Warner Bros Discovery CEO sees more industry deals under Trump
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Warner Bros Discovery CEO sees more industry deals under Trump

Live Mint  

By Dawn Chmielewski and Harshita Mary Varghese - Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav anticipates a friendlier environment for deal-making under the incoming Trump administration, opening the door to industry consolidation, he said on Thursday. Warner Bros Discovery and its peers are navigating through what Zaslav described as a "generational disruption," confronting an erosion of its lucrative television business as …

Warner Bros. is in talks to merge with Paramount Global
1 year ago

Warner Bros. is in talks to merge with Paramount Global

Live Mint  

Discovery Inc. held talks on a possible merger with Paramount Global, potentially combining two of the biggest media companies in the world, according to people with knowledge of the matter. A combination of the companies would unite famous Hollywood properties, including the Paramount and Warner Bros. film and TV studios, and put a number of pay-TV and broadcast stations, such …

Warner Bros Discovery warns Hollywood strikes may impact film slate
1 year, 4 months ago

Warner Bros Discovery warns Hollywood strikes may impact film slate

Al Jazeera  

Some features and dramas Warner Bros Discovery is well known for are on ice for now with no end in sight to the strike. Warner Bros Discovery has warned that uncertainty over the dual strikes by Hollywood writers and actors could impact the timing of its film slate and its ability to produce and deliver content. This is a seminal …

David Zaslav defends Warner Bros. Discovery cuts: ‘We did not get rid of any show that was helping us’
2 years, 1 month ago

David Zaslav defends Warner Bros. Discovery cuts: ‘We did not get rid of any show that was helping us’

LA Times  

Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav addressed the significant cuts made at the company during the last six months, framing them as part of a fundamental “rethinking and reimagining” of how the media giant works as the entertainment industry endures a period of dramatic transformation. Since the April merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc., the combined firm has shed hundreds of …

Warner Bros. Discovery to spend more than $1 billion downsizing
2 years, 2 months ago

Warner Bros. Discovery to spend more than $1 billion downsizing

LA Times  

Discovery reports that it will incur up to $1.5 billion in costs to shrink the company, cancel programming and provide severance packages to laid-off workers, among other expenses. In a Securities & Exchange Commission filing Monday, the company warned that “the estimated cash expenditures from the organization restructuring, facility consolidation activities and other contract termination costs will be in the …

Trading starts of new Warner Bros. Discovery media giant
2 years, 8 months ago

Trading starts of new Warner Bros. Discovery media giant

Associated Press  

Shares of the new Warner Bros. The bulked-up company combines the owner of storied film studio Warner Bros., TV networks including CNN, HBO and the streaming service HBO Max, with Discovery Inc., the parent of networks that focus on reality television like HGTV and its own streaming service, Discovery+. AT&T Inc. last year decided to separate WarnerMedia as the company …

WarnerMedia-Discovery deal: AT&T gets favorable IRS ruling
2 years, 11 months ago

WarnerMedia-Discovery deal: AT&T gets favorable IRS ruling

LA Times  

AT&T is spinning off WarnerMedia, with its shareholders owning 71% and Discovery shareholders 29% of Warner Bros. AT&T said it received a “favorable” ruling from the IRS, signaling that the deal to combine WarnerMedia with Discovery would be tax-free for shareholders. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav called it “a key milestone toward completing our proposed transaction with AT&T.” “Today we …

Congress members blast proposed Discovery-WarnerMedia merger
3 years ago

Congress members blast proposed Discovery-WarnerMedia merger

LA Times  

More than 30 Democrats have sent a letter to Atty. Gen. Jonathan Kanter, the lawmakers said the proposed consolidation “raises significant antitrust concerns” and warranted increased scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division, which Kanter now heads. Monday’s letter represents the first major pushback against the deal in the U.S. “The merger threatens to enhance the market power …

Warner Bros. Discovery is Hollywood’s newest media giant, but challenges loom
3 years, 6 months ago

Warner Bros. Discovery is Hollywood’s newest media giant, but challenges loom

LA Times  

Two weeks after AT&T announced it was spinning off WarnerMedia to the much smaller Discovery, executives flocked to the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank for a glimpse of their future — and the man who would lead them there. Even after the merger, an estimated 80% of Warner Bros. Discovery’s pre-tax earnings in 2024 will still be tied to its …

WarnerMedia, Discovery merge assets: All you need to know about the deal, and future of their streaming services
3 years, 7 months ago

WarnerMedia, Discovery merge assets: All you need to know about the deal, and future of their streaming services

Firstpost  

From the implications of the merger on HBO Max and Discovery+, to potential layoffs at WarnerMedia and Discovery, a comprehensive guide to the mammoth deal. It’s as if Logan Roy, the fictional patriarch of the Waystar Royco media empire on HBO’s popular series Succession, masterminded the deal himself: AT&T has thrown in the towel on its media business and decided …

Discovery, AT&T’s WarnerMedia announce they'll merge media businesses to create standalone company in landmark deal
3 years, 7 months ago

Discovery, AT&T’s WarnerMedia announce they'll merge media businesses to create standalone company in landmark deal

Firstpost  

WarnerMedia and Discovery both launched their own streaming services, HBO Max and Discovery+, within the past two years. It’s still not clear whether the merger will result in a single streaming service or several bundled together, The merger of Discovery and AT&T’s WarnerMedia operations, marrying the likes of HBO and CNN with HGTV and Oprah Winfrey, is another illustration of …

AT&T’s WarnerMedia will merge with Discovery. Is a great re-bundling at hand?
3 years, 7 months ago

AT&T’s WarnerMedia will merge with Discovery. Is a great re-bundling at hand?

LA Times  

With the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, many expect HBO Max and Discovery+ to combine into a super-service. And now that most major media companies have launched their own over-the-top apps, the industry is reckoning with the realities that: 1) using entertainment content to sell mobile phones may not make sense, 2) competing with Netflix and Disney is extremely expensive, …

Oprah and CNN: AT&T is merging media business with Discovery
3 years, 7 months ago

Oprah and CNN: AT&T is merging media business with Discovery

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — The merger of Discovery and AT&T’s WarnerMedia operations, marrying the likes of HBO and CNN with HGTV and Oprah Winfrey, is another illustration of the head-spinning speed in which streaming has transformed the media world. “I think, together, the combination makes us the best media company in the world,” said Zaslav, who will run the new company …

Why you should care about Discovery and WarnerMedia merging
3 years, 7 months ago

Why you should care about Discovery and WarnerMedia merging

CNN  

New York CNN Business — Discovery is an iconic brand in the cable world, as are CNN and HBO. Discovery said on Monday that the new company, which is still yet to be named, will “own one of the deepest libraries in the world with nearly 200,000 hours of iconic programming” and bring together over 100 brands. But in this …

AT&T selling a stake in DirecTV ends an infamous saga
3 years, 9 months ago

AT&T selling a stake in DirecTV ends an infamous saga

CNN  

New York CNN Business — AT&T on Thursday sold a minority stake in its video business to private equity firm TPG. “It’s not like people at the time didn’t see cord-cutting coming.” AT&T and TPG will create a new company called “New DirecTV.” Following the close of the transaction, AT&T will own 70% of the new venture, which the company …

AT&T chief defends HBO Max after Christopher Nolan calls it the ‘worst’
4 years ago

AT&T chief defends HBO Max after Christopher Nolan calls it the ‘worst’

LA Times  

AT&T Inc. Chief Executive John Stankey on Tuesday defended the company’s industry-shaking decision to put Warner Bros.’ entire 17-film slate on the streaming service HBO Max next year, saying it “needed to try something different” to respond to the pandemic. “But I think ultimately rational parties will step back and look at this and say giving theater owners a predictable …

AT&T’s WarnerMedia begins new round of layoffs amid reorganization
4 years, 1 month ago

AT&T’s WarnerMedia begins new round of layoffs amid reorganization

LA Times  

WarnerMedia is being hit with deep job cuts this week as Chief Executive Jason Kilar makes sweeping changes to the AT&T-owned entertainment company. The cuts come after WarnerMedia in August shed about 600 workers, primarily from its Burbank-based Warner Bros. studio, known for “Wonder Woman,” “The Big Bang Theory” and the Harry Potter movie franchise. Departing high-level studio executives in …

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