Discovery Mulls Different Upfront Concepts as WarnerMedia Merger Looms

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAT&T and Discovery have gained clearance for their much-anticipated deal to spin off WarnerMedia so it can merge with Discovery, a deal that has already been approved in Europe. The approval of Discovery shareholders is the last barrier to the deal moving forward.The companies disclosed the matter in two different filings Wednesday with the U.S.

The pending merger between AT&T’s WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. has received approval from U.S.

The merger of AT&T’s WarnerMedia and Discovery has cleared U.S. regulators, the companies announced Wed.,  in the last major hurdle for the $43-billion deal.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorEver since Jeff Zucker seized the reins at CNN in early 2013, the cable-news network has been one of loudest voices in media circles. Now, even though Discovery didn’t push the executive out, there’s a sense the company will, after it buys CNN along with the rest of WarnerMedia, look to turn down the volume.In the Zucker era, CNN became more swashbuckling, more colorful, and indeed, more opinionated than it ever was under the aegis of its founder Ted Turner, or his successors at the former Time Warner. CNN went from delivering headlines to being in the headlines.

Disney has confirmed it will join other media companies in hosting an in-person New York City upfront during the familiar mid-May week long known for broadcast network presentations to ad buyers.

Shooting wrapped last month on the long-awaited Gerard Butler project Kandahar and here are some exclusive behind the scenes photos from the film, which is notably one of the first major U.S. titles to shoot its entirety in Saudi Arabia. The film, which is produced by John Wick outfit Thunder Road Films and Capstone, reunites Butler with his Greenland and Angel Has Fallen director Ric Roman Waugh. While this certainly isn’t the first action thriller the bankable Scottish actor has starred in, Kandahar is one of the first big-budget Hollywood titles to shoot in the country’s northwest AlUla region, which is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hegra.

EXCLUSIVE: Hosea Chanchez (The Game), Devere Rogers (My Spy), Griffin Matthews (The Flight Attendant) and Brandon Gill (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) have signed on to star alongside Bernard David Jones (The Mayor, Scroll Wheel of Time) in his pilot Remember, which has launched production after receiving a WarnerMedia OneFifty grant supporting the early stages of its development.

She’s on the move! Real estate expert Peggy Zabakolas is taking her talents to Discovery+ for the new series Selling the Hamptons.

AT&T CEO John Stankey and Discovery CEO David Zaslav generally sidestepped questions about the exit of CNN boss Jeff Zucker amid dismay among the cable network’s on air talent and staffers over how the situation was handled.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCNN staffers who spend a lot of time delivering the latest headlines may have something else to give their corporate overseers: a raised middle finger.Executives who run companies like WarnerMedia and Discovery spend much of their time these days trying to keep investors enthused about their prospects, even as the consumers who watch their movies and TV shows keep moving away to new streaming venues. Now they may have to take up some of their hours soothing a roiled staff at CNN, where many employees remain furious about the ouster of Jeff Zucker, the company’s president for the past nine years.

Shares in both AT&T and Discovery opened down about 5% apiece on Tuesday morning, following news that AT&T would indeed, definitely spinoff WarnerMedia in a $43 billion deal with Discovery, Inc.There was previously a chance the two companies would execute a split instead.In addition to that decision, AT&T’s board of directors has approved an annual dividend of $1.11 per AT&T share.“In evaluating the form of distribution, we were guided by one objective — executing the transaction in the most seamless manner possible to support long-term value generation,” AT&T CEO John Stankey said this morning. “We are confident the spin-off achieves that objective because it’s simple, efficient and results in AT&T shareholders owning shares of both companies, each of which will have the ability to drive better returns in a manner consistent with their respective market opportunities.“We believe that the remaining AT&T and the new WBD are two equities that the market will want to own and the markets to support those equities will develop,” Stankey continued.

Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio has said economic and geographical inequalities have led to a “polarized creative community” within the British TV and film sector.

AT&T shares are down in pre-market trading after the telecom giant said it will spin off WarnerMedia as part of the entertainment unit’s pending $43 billion merger with Discovery.

Gwyneth Paltrow just got very honest with her fans.

Naman Ramachandran Discovery Plus India’s original investigative documentary series “Dangals of Crime: The Untold Truth About Indian Wrestling,” is now streaming. It traces the meteoric rise of the Olympic sport, in which India has seven summer Olympics medals, and also explores its dark underbelly.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent“Fitness advice, gig economy, binge watching Danish crime series, sustainability, sex when the kids watch cartoons, mobile bank ID, personal development 5:2 diet, anti-aging cream, Adobe updates, climate friendly travel, body activism,” Anders rants quietly to the camera, as he walks from his car to home in the equivalent of white picket fence Sweden at the beginning of Swedish Discovery Plus Original “Gotebia,” a half-hour dramedic psychological thriller.“Exterior renovations, Roblox, mini Rodini hats, dinners from Fedora. Shared family calendar.