Discovery Sees Q4 Profit Tumble on Streaming Expenses, Merger Costs

Discovery and AT&T have determined the 13 members of the board of directors for Warner Bros Discovery, the new company that will be created via a pending $43 billion merger.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSamuel Di Piazza Jr. will serve as the chairman of Warner Bros.

Warner Bros Discovery, the company created by merging Discovery Inc. and WarnerMedia, and signed a new employment agreement through the end of 2027.

Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s total pay package came to more than $246 million for 2021 as the company prepares to close its merger with WarnerMedia.

Eventually, HBO Max and Discovery+ will come together as a single streaming offering, but the integration will “take a while,” CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said at an investor conference today.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorSymone D. Sanders will take over the 4 p.m. weekend slot on MSNBC as the NBCUniversal-owned network continues to bolster opinion programming over hours devoted to straight news reportage.The former media strategist, who has helped two prominent Democrats in presidential campaigns, will kick off her first show on Saturday, May 7, at 4 p.m.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDiscovery investors voted in approval of the company’s $43 billion acquisition of WarnerMedia from AT&T to create Warner Bros. Discovery during a special meeting of stockholders Friday, marking one of the final formal steps before the transaction can close.The deal, a spinoff of WarnerMedia from AT&T, is expected to be completed early in Q2, with insiders telling Variety the estimated date is between April 11-28. The merger has already received approval from the U.S.

Discovery shareholders are set to OK the $43 billion merger with WarnerMedia on Friday, the last big step before AT&T completes the spinoff. Ahead of the deal’s expected close next month, a who’s-in/who’s-out parlor game is gaining intensity as CEO David Zaslav finalizes the leadership team.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAndrew Ross Sorkin, the New York Times journalist and CNBC morning host, will take on a new assignment for NBC News: gaining an edge in the TV-news industry’s expanding streaming wars.Sorkin will host and produce a limited-run original series for NBC News Now, the NBC News streaming service that its parent has promoted aggressively in recent weeks as rival CNN prepares to launch a new streaming venture called CNN Plus. Sorkin’s streaming debut is expected to examine “the people, trends, institutions and forces shaping our world,” according to an NBC News statement.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDiscovery, Inc. president and CEO David Zaslav was awarded a one-time discretionary bonus of $4.4 million by the company’s board March 1 in honor of his “exceptional leadership” ahead of Discovery’s acquisition of WarnerMedia.Per a Monday SEC filing, “The Board approved the one-time bonus (which is in addition to the 2021 annual bonus that Mr.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAt first bite, Cookie Monster seems like a harmless creature whose only flaw is acting on the needs of his stomach over the recommendations of his brain. In reality, this is a battle-hardened veteran who is set to play a bigger role in one of the media industry’s most intense brawls.The furry, azure creature, known for his time on “Sesame Street” and even in a commercial for Apple, will soon boost WarnerMedia’s efforts to win new fans of its kids programming, and to keep those who already have a connection from breaking it.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCNN will have a new chief for a new chapter.Chris Licht, a veteran producer who has overseen programs like MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and CBS’ “CBS This Morning” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” was named chairman and chief executive of CNN Global — a new name for the news operation once its parent, WarnerMedia, is acquired by Discovery. Licht will report directly to David Zaslav, who will be CEO of the combined company.Discovery is expected to take control of WarnerMedia sometime in mid-April, depending on a shareholder vote, among other conditions.The prospect of a new owner and a new top executive has spurred speculation about what new programming and operating direction may be in store for the venerable cable-news outlet, which has been under scrutiny since WarnerMedia ousted former president Jeff Zucker after he failed to disclose a romantic relationship with Allison Gollust, CNN’s former chief marketing officer.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorChris Licht, the wunderkind producer who launched “Morning Joe,” retooled “CBS This Morning” and helped late night host Stephen Colbert gain traction on CBS, is jumping to CNN to take over the operation once its corporate parent, WarnerMedia, is acquired by Discovery in a much-anticipated merger expected to take place in April, according to a person familiar with the matter.Licht could not be reached for immediate comment and a CNN spokesperson referred an inquiry to Discovery. A Discovery executive declined to comment.

Discovery CEO David Zaslav dropped his usual quota of names during the company’s quarterly earnings call — John Malone, Jack Welch, Oprah — but one name didn’t come up: Jeff Zucker.

Discovery execs, attuning commentary around recent investor sentiment on streaming, reassured investors this morning that they will not overspend on content as the company merges with WarnerMedia early in the second quarter.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAT&T and State Farm are the latest big advertisers to experiment with new ways of figuring out just who is watching TV – and the commercials that support it.The two marketers are among those who are taking part in an alliance between Discovery and Omnicom Media Group. Under the pact, a handful of Omnicom clients, including the telecom and insurance giants, will test new ways of tabulating linear TV audiences using Comscore and VideoAmp, and examine recent viewership data.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorNielsen is poised to release another batch of new data about TV viewers as it battles with TV networks over which yardstick will be paramount in the industry’s coming upfront marketplace.The media measurement giant is expected as soon as Wednesday to announce it will issue streaming data from connected TV sets, according to two people familiar with the matter. The information, Nielsen is expected to tell clients, will give advertisers, media buyers and media companies more information in their efforts to understand how audiences are behaving across a range of different screens.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorJohn Oliver has a few words for his soon-to-be new bosses at Discovery. And even those may be more than enough.The HBO host, who launches a new season of the comedy-meets-investigative-journalism series “Last Week Tonight” on Sunday, has for the past several years teased the owner of HBO and its parent WarnerMedia with great relish. “You’re a terrible company.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor“Reliable Sources” has been a Sunday fixture on CNN for three decades. Now it’s expanding to the working week.The media-analysis program will launch a weekday edition on CNN Plus, the subscription-video service set to launch over the next few weeks.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe hunt for an elusive South American flower is at the heart of the latest addition to the Peacock streaming service, but the creators of the new show aren’t from the typical Hollywood studio.“Unlocked,” a short film that debuts Friday on the NBCUniversal broadband outlet, is the creation of tech giant Hewlett-Packard and the agency Giant Spoon. The mini-movie tells the story of data scientists hoping to track down a rare plant that might just offer a cure to a mysterious neurological disease that ails the world, but it might solve some other problems as well, like how to get ad messages in front of consumers who are increasingly accustomed to avoid such things when they hunker down for a new bingeworthy session.