Warner Bros. Discovery Owes $52 Million for ‘South Park’ Streaming Rights, Paramount Alleges

As if movie fans needed another reason to be wary of new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav: Deadline reports that the CEO told the hosts of the CNBC show “Squawk Box” that “a love for working” will be what ultimately ends the current WGA writers’ strike.

Warner Bros Discovery’s hour-long earnings call with Wall Street analysts Friday morning included nary a mention of the WGA strike, unlike many other such calls in recent days.

launch its rebranded Max streaming service on May 23, plans to focus on family-friendly content. “The more people that use it in the family, the more engaged people are, the broader the offering, the lower the churn,” Zaslav noted.

Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav has said the company’s U.S. streaming operation is “no longer bleeding” after it posted a $50M profit for Q1 this year. “It’s harder to run a business when you have a big bleeder,” he told investors on an earnings call minutes ago.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery posted a first-quarter loss, buffeted not only by the dynamics of streaming video that are eroding traditional media-industry economics, but also by charges related to the 2022 merger that created the company out of the former WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. The owner of HBO, TNT and the Discovery Channel said its loss of $1.069 billion included $1.81 billion of “acquisition-related intangible assets and $95 million of pre-tax restructuring expenses.” The company also indicated that the debt it took on to finance the merger was affecting its financials. Warner Bros. Discovery had $836 million of “semi-annual interest payments largely attributable to merger-related debt that overwhelmed its cash flow.

Warner Bros Discovery matched Wall Street estimates for revenue in the first quarter, with $10.7 billion, but posted a wider-than-expected loss due to tough comparisons with the year-ago period.

Max brand name on May 23, the entertainment giant revealed it had added 1.6 million streaming subscribers during the quarter for a total of 97.6 million globally.The direct to consumer division reported a profit of $50 million, a $704 million year-over-year improvement on a pro forma combined basis. Revenue for the segment fell 2% year over year to $2.455 billion, including $2.165 billion in distribution revenue, $103 million in advertising revenue and $185 million in content revenue.

EXCLUSIVE: CBS is trying its hand at a game of Mexican bingo in its latest unscripted order.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Snap took the wraps off new advertising initiatives at its 2023 NewFronts presentation for marketers in New York — including revealing a new test of sponsored links in My AI, which can deliver ads based on a user’s conversation with the chatbot. The company, which averaged 383 million daily active users in Q1, last month announced the rollout of the artificial intelligence-powered My AI chatbot to all Snapchat users. While it’s still early days, Snap says My AI has the potential to deliver more relevant content and experiences across the app — and execs told NewFronts attendees the company is experimenting with sponsored links in My AI.

EXCLUSIVE: Canada’s Crave has struck a multi-year licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) for the likes of Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, the DC Universe and HBO content.

Louis Vuitton transformed a bridge spanning the Han River into a massive runway for its latest collection Saturday. Models strutted down the Jamsugyo Bridge to music to showcase the luxury fashion house's pre-fall collection that included sunglasses, chunky black-and-white loafers and sandals as well as an assortment of large, colorful bags and smaller ones adorned with the label's logo.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer New York is poised to dramatically increase its film tax incentive from $420 million a year to $700 million, as it looks to stave off competition from New Jersey and Georgia. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced an agreement Thursday night on a $229 billion budget, after weeks of negotiations with state lawmakers. Among many other provisions, the budget will increase the size of the film tax credit program, as well as raise the credit percentage from 25% to 30%, bringing it in line with rival states. The program will also be extended to 2034, according to a source familiar with the conceptual agreement.

Viacom18 have revealed a multi-year agreement making JioCinema India’s new streaming home for HBO, Max Original and Warner Bros. content from May. The WBD content had previously been carried on the Disney-owned Star TV platform. But the deal with Star expired at the end of March. WBD sources have confirmed that, except for a handful of shows licensed to third parties, HBO content has been absent from Indian airwaves since the beginning of the month. The new deal is another major victory for Mukesh Ambani, one of India’s richest and most politically influential businessmen. His Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is behind Viacom18 and the JioCinema streaming platform, as well as India’s dominant cellular phone and broadband internet providers.

Warner Bros Discovery has signed a multi-year licensing deal with Viacom18 under which its JioCinema service will become the new streaming home of HBO, Max Original and Warner Bros content in India starting next month. 

It really does feel like a lifetime ago when Warner Bros. defiantly said, during the beginning of the pandemic, that every film released in 2021 was going to hit theaters and streaming on the same day.

Fox, Comcast and Warner Bros Discovery shares each took a dip Monday after the media companies took turns generating industry-shaking headlines over less than 24 hours.

They haven’t quite killed Kenny, but Paramount Global tonight took a hard swipe at Warner Bros Discovery over South Park.

EXCLUSIVE: Harry Gamsu is heading back to Warner Bros. Discovery.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO and President David Zaslav, just a day after revealing details of the new combined streaming service Max, joined industry titans Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson to tout another area close to the heart of the studio he now heads: the importance of restoring and preserving Warner Bros.’ rich legacy of film classics, especially as it heads into its 100th anniversary year. Appearing on stage at the opening night of the 14th TCM Classic Film Festival with Spielberg and Anderson in a conversation moderated by TCM host Ben Mankiewicz, Zaslav — who previously stated his belief in the theatrical experience and a return to that after 2021’s much-derided day-and-date release model under past CEO Jason Kilar — made it clear that the studio’s commitment to the preservation and well-being of the studio’s rich library will be a priority in his administration. (Turner Classic Movies is a cable channel under the WBD umbrella.)

“The Big Bang Theory” is approved for additional funding.