Discovery Stockholders Approve $43 Billion WarnerMedia Merger

ISS, an influential shareholder advisory firm, has recommended “withhold” votes for the three Discovery directors up for reelection at the April annual meeting “due to poor stewardship” in compensation.

AT&T has firmed up more details of its spinoff of WarnerMedia, which is poised to combine with Discovery in a $43 billion merger.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNetflix’s “A Madea Homecoming” and Disney’s “Free Guy” both made their debuts on Nielsen’s Top 10 streaming rankings with more than 1 billion minutes watched in the titles’ first few days of availability.Tyler Perry’s “A Madea Homecoming” was No. 4 on the list of overall streaming programs for the week of Feb. 21-27, with 1.04 billion minutes viewed in the two days following its Feb.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThey’ll come for the high-wattage HBO and Warner Bros. content. They’ll stick around for Discovery’s lifestyle comfort food.That’s the formula that Warner Bros.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNetflix’s “Inventing Anna” jumped to No. 1 on Nielsen’s Top 10 streaming rankings in its second week after launching on Netflix, almost tripling its audience to 3.3 billion minutes watched during the week of Feb.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAmazon has closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM first announced last May, the companies said Thursday.Per Amazon, “The storied, nearly century-old studio—with more than 4,000 film titles, 17,000 TV episodes, 180 Academy Awards, and 100 Emmy Awards—will complement Prime Video and Amazon Studios’ work in delivering a diverse offering of entertainment choices to customers.”The completion of the transaction comes two days after the Amazon-MGM deal received clearance from the European Union’s antitrust regulator, which “unconditionally” approved Amazon’s proposed acquisition of MGM, in part because “MGM’s content cannot be considered as must-have.” The European Commission, in its antitrust review, found that the overlaps between the Amazon and MGM businesses are “limited.” At that time, the deal was still pending approval by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which had been given a mid-March deadline by Amazon to issue a decision on approval of the transaction, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, who has long espoused the benefits of streaming’s boom times, said he’s “not nervous” about Warner Bros Discovery possibly pumping the brakes as it looks to take on Netflix and Disney.

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.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDiscovery — which is about to become Warner Bros. Discovery within the next month, when its merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia closes — has confirmed its plans to combine its current streaming service Discovery Plus and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max into one service, rather than offer the two platforms as a bundle.Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, who will also serve as CFO of the newly combined Warner Bros.

Discovery just announced that its stockholders have approved its merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia to create Warner Bros. Discovery, “a premier, global entertainment company” — marking the completion of one of the few remaining closing conditions for the merger.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterWarnerMedia has been owned by telco giant AT&T for less than four years and it will soon have a new parent company — likely by the end of next month.Discovery’s shareholder vote on the acquisition of WarnerMedia is set for today during a special meeting of stockholders set for 10 a.m. ET. The deal is expected to get an easy thumbs-up given the approval already bestowed by Discovery’s oldest and most influential holders, investor John Malone and Advance/Newhouse Co.

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.

Discovery and WarnerMedia are ceasing operations in Russia amid the ongoing war with Ukraine, the latest in a string of media and entertainment companies along with retail, tech and other businesses that are pulling out.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterWarnerMedia is “pausing all new business in Russia” amid the country’s continued invasion of Ukraine, CEO Jason Kilar announced Wednesday.“I want to share with each of you a number of decisions we have made with regard to WarnerMedia’s business operations in Russia,” Kilar said in a memo to WarnerMedia staff obtained by Variety. “Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, WarnerMedia is pausing all new business in Russia.

EXCLUSIVE: Jeff Zucker has finalized a deal with WarnerMedia over the former CNN chief’s sudden fall from grace last month.

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.