The mountains are as gorgeous as ever, the deal climate not so much as boutique investment bank Allen & Co. prepares to host its annual Sun Valley retreat. After guests arrive on Tuesday, official activities get under way Wednesday.
15.06.2022 - 01:45 / deadline.com
Warner Bros Discovery, two months after closing its $43 billion merger, has taken the first step toward reducing its global workforce, initiating voluntary buyouts in its U.S. advertising sales division.
Over time, the cuts will see up to 30% fewer employees in sales, an expected move reflecting overlap related to the business combination, a person familiar with the employee reductions told Deadline. The Information had the first report of the job cuts.
The timeline for the cuts is not completely clear, according to the source, but plans call for voluntary buyouts to be followed by non-voluntary measures including layoffs.
Sales is one area considered to have duplicative positions in its org chart given the expanded portfolio. Others include marketing and distribution as well as administrative departments like business affairs and accounting.
The newly combined company has promised Wall Street at least $3 billion in cost savings from the merger, which saw Discovery join with WarnerMedia in a spinoff from former parent AT&T. David Zaslav, the merged company’s CEO, and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels have both given clear messages over recent months as to their intent to identify places where expenses can be cut and operations streamlined. Warner and Discovery combined operate a large array of cable networks both in the U.S. and internationally.
Warner Bros Discovery has about 3,000 workers in sales, half of them based in the U.S.
Employees whose tenures date back to the pre-AT&T days of Time Warner are working for their third corporate bosses in four years. The $85 billion AT&T-Time Warner deal resulted in the exits of about 1,500 employees, including high-profile, long-tenured ones like former HBO CEO Richard Plepler and Turner Sports
The mountains are as gorgeous as ever, the deal climate not so much as boutique investment bank Allen & Co. prepares to host its annual Sun Valley retreat. After guests arrive on Tuesday, official activities get under way Wednesday.
Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Cake Boss” star Buddy Valastro, a longtime staple in the Warner Bros. Discovery lifestyle brands family, is making A+E Networks his new TV home.The cable giant has signed custom cake whiz Valastro, who rose to fame through his TLC reality series “Cake Boss,” which is centered on his long-standing family business Carlo’s Bakery, to a multi-platform creative partnership.The pact encompasses more than 60 hours of original programming, including development of multiple new series and holiday specials produced by A+E’s Six West Media, in association with Valastro’s Cakehouse Media.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWarner Bros. Discovery has partnered with energy company Shell for an adrenaline-filled show, “Dare to Ride,” that has begun airing on Discovery in Southeast Asia and India. “Dare to Ride” showcases some of Asia’s most accomplished riders as they attempt to conquer the region’s most iconic routes with just their bikes, their wits, and their technical knowhow.
Warner Bros. Discovery has revealed its lineup for this year’s San Diego Comic-Con which runs July 21-24.
K.J. Yossman Warner Bros.
EXCLUSIVE: Jeffrey Schlesinger, who was previously President, Warner Bros Worldwide Television Distribution, has invested in and joined the advisory board of online sales platform Vuulr.
K.J. Yossman Warner Bros Discovery Sports (WBDS) is set to air the Wimbledon tennis championships live across 11 European countries.“The Championships from Wimbledon” will air from Monday, June 27 on discovery+, Eurosport, Eurosport App and Eurosport.com in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria.Fans in those countries will also be able to watch the Wimbledon qualifying tournament live, which started Monday (June 20).
Even though it isn’t on the Warner Bros release calendar until June 23, 2023, The Flash is becoming Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s first movie crisis, because of the escalating coverage of incidents of volatile and odd behavior involving the film’s star, Ezra Miller.
general restructuring under CEO David Zaslav, which stems from the completion of the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger.Henson’s post was executive vice president, head of unscripted programming for TBS, TNT and truTV. In the role, she oversaw and spearheaded unscripted creative development and production for all three cable brands.
EXCLUSIVE: The Big D, a dating competition hosted by The Bachelorette alums JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rogers, has been axed at TBS weeks ahead of its premiere.
EXCLUSIVE: Corie Henson, who runs unscripted for the Turner networks, is leaving the broadcaster.
Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorWarner Bros. Discovery’s brutal year in the stock market hit a new bottom, as shares of the media conglomerate sank 8.1% Thursday — taking a bigger punch than peers.With the stock drop Thursday, to close at $13.65/share, WBD’s market cap stands at about $33.1 billion. That’s well under its current debt load of some $55 billion.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWarner Bros. Discovery Latin America has acquired streaming and Pay-TV rights to Indonesian-produced kids animation series “The Beachbuds” for play in Latin America.
Jon Steinlauf, Warner Bros Discovery’s Chief U.S. Advertising Sales Officer declined to offer an update on the company’s upfront ad sales progress during Credit Suisse’s 24th Annual Communications Conference.
Warner Bros. Discovery has named Luis Silberwasser chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports.
Warner Bros. Discovery has named Luis Silberwasser, a former exec at Discovery, Telemundo and most recently TelevisaUnivision, as chairman and CEO of its sports division.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWarner Bros. Discovery Thursday announced its management team for Japan, Australia New Zealand, reporting into James Gibbons, WBD’s president and managing director.The reshuffle follows similar announcements for the EMEA area under Priya Dogra and India, Southeast Asia and Korea under Clement Schwebig.In addition to the above appointments, David Macdonald is named VP Networks, Japan, based in Tokyo.
Warner Bros Discovery is wasting no time in unveiling new leadership teams across the globe with the most recent structure outlined for Japan, Australia and New Zealand under James Gibbons, President and Managing Director of the region. This follows teams in EMEA, India, Southeast Asia and Korea being confirmed in the past 36 hours.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWarner Bros. Discovery has set out its India, Southeast Asia and Korea (INSEAK) leadership team under Clement Schwebig, as president and managing director.The Thursday announcement follows just hours after a similar announcement of the EMEA leadership team under Priya Dogra.Both Schwebig and Dogra report to Gerhard Zeiler, president of international for the merged company.
Blackwood’s departure was an expected step in the ongoing leadership shift at the studio under Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who is installing his own leaders and organizational structure.