Discovery+ Economics Justify Continuing It As A Stand-Alone Streamer After Launch Of Merged HBO Max Offering, WBD CEO David Zaslav Says: “Why Would We Shut That Off?”

Bloomberg reported on Thursday and TheWrap independently confirmed.The name change is meant to signal that the service will not just be HBO Max with Discovery content, nor will HBO Max be ported over to Discovery+. “Max” is the leading contender, though Warner Bros.

Maisie Smith has made a joking admission as she shared a glimpse inside her home after moving in with Max George. Back in January, Maisie, who is known for playing Tiffany Butcher in EastEnders, was given a special surprise by her singer boyfriend during a date at the cinema - but it didn't exactly go to plan.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery, which is struggling with billions of dollars in debt, is willing to pay more money to executives who might be able to help reduce it. The owner of HBO, Discovery Channel and Food Network said Monday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it would pay out new rewards to CEO David Zaslav, six senior staffers and an unspecified group of others if they could meet certain goals of new generation of free cash flow. “The changes to the Warner Bros. Discovery executive compensation program are designed to further incentivize Company employees, including members of its leadership team and others whose efforts are critical to achieving the key near-term financial objectives of increased free cash flow and reduced leverage,” said WBD board chairman Samuel A. Di Piazza, Jr. in a prepared statement.“The WBD board is confident that these additional incentives offer a more competitive package against the backdrop of ongoing industry-wide transformation and economic headwinds, and better position the company to advance core drivers of shareholder value.”

Warner Bros. Discovery has tweaked its CEO’s employment contract, granting a bigger pot of restricted stock units but linking them to free cash flow targets.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter HBO Max’s “The Batman” spinoff series “The Penguin” has cast Clancy Brown in a recurring role, Variety has learned. Brown joins a cast that includes series lead Colin Farrell, who will reprise the role of Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot from “The Batman, as well as Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Deirdre O’Connell. Brown will appear as Salvatore Maroni, a notorious Gotham City crime boss. The character was referenced repeatedly in “The Batman,” as his arrest by corrupt Gotham officials and the collapse of his criminal empire allowed for Carmine Falcone’s organization to rise. Maroni has previously been portrayed onscreen by actors like David Zayas in “Gotham” at Fox and by Eric Roberts in “The Dark Knight.”

The Weeknd continues to break records.

The horrific search for Abby Choi’s body parts is still underway, with authorities eager to find more clues about the model’s tragic death. If you haven’t been following this har

Seven months after landing the highly coveted top jobs at Warner Bros. Motion Picture studios, Co-Chairpersons Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy were bestowed with the PGA Milestone award tonight and paid respect for their mega industry mentors, remembered emotionally their cinematic NYC and New Jersey youths, and gave a huge shoutout to their new boss, Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

Middle Earth is returning to the big screen.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor David Zaslav sounds tired of taking lumps. After months of cost cutting, write-downs, and getting pilloried among Hollywood natives for killing projects, the Warner Bros. Discovery chief showed off some new truculence, making the case that while his newly-merged company has been having a tough time, so too were others. “‘Last year was a year of restructuring,” said Zaslav, during a call with investors Thursday. “This year will be a year of building.” Over the course of an hour, Zasalv and Gunnar Wiedenfels, Warner’s chief financial officer, made the case that their company was just as well-equipped as any of its rivals — perhaps even more so — to withstand a stormy era during which media companies are pressed to grow their streaming operations but maintain profitability. Zaslav elbowed Netflix for releasing all of the episodes for a program’s cycle all at once; suggested that a move to launch new “Lord of the Rings” movies would take away some of the momentum that Amazon had enjoyed from its launch of a series based on the novels; and told listeners Warner Bros. Discovery could launch an ad-supported streaming service without having to buy an outside asset, as Fox Corp. and Paramount Global had. “We can create a Tubi or a Pluto without having to buy anybody,” he boasted.

Call “2023 will be a year of building,” Warner Bros Discovery boss David Zaslav made a point today on the company’s latest earnings call to sing the praises of CNN’s “more inclusive range of voices and viewpoints.”

Warner Bros Discovery revenue fell 11% to $11 billion (or a drop of 9% when foreign exchange fluctuations are excluded), mostly due to advertising softness and tough studio comparisons.

Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels today predicted the company will hit $4 billion in total cost savings from the merger of Discovery and Warner Media – up from a previous commitment to hit $3.5 billion.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery continued to work on making all its various pieces, merged together last year, into a cohesive whole. The New York owner of the TNT and TBS cable networks, the HBO Max streaming service and the Warner Bros. production studio reported a net loss of $2.1 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter after the company wrote down $1.85 billion in assets and faced nearly $1.2 billion in restructuring expenses. Revenue fell 9%, excluding the results of foreign exchange, and the company saw ad sales decrease 14% as its TV networks, even as it worked to add subscribers to its HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming outlets.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer HBO, HBO Max and Discovery+ added 1.1 million subscribers in Q4 to end 2022 with a total of 96.1 million worldwide. That’s up from the 95 million combined global streaming customers Warner Bros. Discovery hit from July 1-Sept. 30, the quarter during which the highly anticipated “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” debuted. During the Oct. 1-Dec. 31 quarter, “House of the Dragon” concluded its first season the second season of HBO’s hot Mike White drama “White Lotus” premiered. Details about the upcoming combined HBO Max-Discovery+ streamer — which does not yet have a name, launch date or pricing details — will be revealed at an April 12 press day.

HBO Max is expanding the world of Stephen King‘s IT with the drama series Welcome To Derry (wt) from Warner Bros. Television and developed for TV by filmmakers Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti (IT, IT Chapter Two) and Jason Fuchs (IT Chapter Two, Wonder Woman).

HBO Max. The streamer announced on Thursday that “Welcome to Derry” has been ordered to series, with “It” and “It: Chapter Two” director Andy Muschietti onboard to executive produce and direct multiple episodes.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor As the fourth-quarter earnings cycle for Big Media closes today with Warner Bros. Discovery results after the market close, Wall Street will be eagerly looking for green shoots to confirm that the worst is truly over for the newly minted conglomerate. Warner Bros. Discovery shares have been gaining slowly but steadily since the beginning of this year as Team Zaslav hammers the point to investors that the worst of its integration and restructuring pain is behind them. WBD CEO David Zaslav has been ahead of the curve in preaching a return to the business fundamentals that have powered Hollywood for more than a half-century. Disney and Paramount Global delivered results earlier this month that came with sober warnings about streaming losses hitting a peak this year. Zaslav and WBD chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels have promised analysts that the heaviest gusher of investment in HBO Max came in 2022 and that they are now on the path to taking the streamer to the promised land — profitablity — next year.

Selome Hailu “South Side” has been canceled after three seasons at HBO Max. The comedy series followed Simon (Sultan Salahuddin) and Kareme (Kareme Young), best friends who just graduated from community college and are ready to take over the world, but are stuck working at a rent-to-own furniture store until they do. MTV Entertainment Studios produced the series. Executive producers included Bashir Salahuddin, Riddle, Michael Blieden, Jax Media’s Tony Hernandez and MTV’s Ari Pearce, Kristyn Deignan and Tara Power. “While HBO Max will not be moving forward with a fourth season of South Side, we are so proud of the rich world Bashir Salahuddin, Diallo Riddle and Sultan Salahuddin created,” an HBO Max spokesperson said, confirming that the series would not be moving forward. “We thank them and Michael Blieden, Tony Hernandez, the supremely talented cast and crew and our partners at MTV Entertainment Studios.”

The HBO comedy “South Side” will not move forward after three seasons.The HBO Max Original series starred best friends Simon (Sultan Salahuddin) and Kareme (Kareme Young), who work at a rent-to-own furniture store while planning for bigger things.“While HBO Max will not be moving forward with a fourth season of South Side, we are so proud of the rich world Bashir Salahuddin, Diallo Riddle and Sultan Salahuddin created,” an HBO Max spokesperson said in a statement to media. “We thank them and Michael Blieden, Tony Hernandez, the supremely talented cast and crew and our partners at MTV Entertainment Studios.”The show was shot on location in Englewood, a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago.