Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Upgraded by Analysts Bullish on Execs’ Free Cash Flow-Based Bonuses

Kyra Sedgwick joked husband of 35 years Kevin Bacon fell in love with her on their first date after she remarked how high the menu prices were at the place where they were dining.  "We had dinner one night and that was it," Sedgwick told People magazine this week of their whirlwind romance.  She admitted that when she first met him on the set of 1987’s "Lemon Sky" she was a "little standoffish."  "I remember thinking, 'Oh, he thinks he's really cool,’" she said of Bacon who had already starred in "Footloose" by that time.   But they soon connected on their first date a few weeks later.  "It was a nice dinner. I opened the menu and said, ‘I can’t believe these prices and he instantly fell in love," she laughed, adding, "I was like, ‘Oh my God! This place is really expensive!’"  Bacon remarked, "Wow, a girl that actually looks at the prices!" "She’s a keeper!" Sedgwick joked as Bacon added, he was thinking, "I’m going to marry her!"  Sedgewick said she realized he was the one the morning after their date.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav received $39.3 million as compensation for his work overseeing the newly merged Discovery-Warner Media empire last year. That’s the pay package disclosed in a regulatory filing, which also disclosed 2022 salaries for other top executives.Then-Discovery CEO Zaslav was given a package worth $246 million in 2021, a massive upswing from $37.7 million in 2020 and $45.8 million in 2019.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav’s pay package topped $39 million in 2022, down considerably from the staggering figure he hit in the year prior, thanks to a massive $203 million stock option. In a Wednesday Securities and Exchange Commission filing, WBD stated that president and CEO Zaslav’s exec comp package totaled $39.3 million last year. $3.1 million of that sum was his salary, with the rest being stock awards ($12 million), stock option awards ($1.4 million), non-equity incentive plan comp ($21.8 million) and “all other” compensation ($925,489). While Zaslav’s pay is down considerably from 2021, it’s important to note the reason behind this major dip is an unprecedented $203 million stock option grant that inflated his total 2021 compensation package to a staggering $246.6 million. (To give you a more reasonable idea of what Zaslav’s pay has been in recent years, his 2020 haul was a mere $37.7 million.)

EXCLUSIVE: After months of upheaval following the close last April of WarnerMedia and Discovery’s $43 billion merger, Michael Ouweleen sees a much more settled operating environment taking shape in 2023.

Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively set the internet alight over the weekend after they made their first trip out to Wrexham Stadium with not only their three older daughters, but also their newborn.The family-of-six enjoyed a spectacular couple days of football, especially for the victorious women's Wrexham AFC team, and Ryan shared some behind-the-scenes photos from the outing.VIDEO: Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' sweet love storyHe posted a few pictures from the field, capturing the intensity of the matches, while posing with members of the teams and his own crew.The Deadpool star also threw in a sweet selfie with Blake, who attended the games with her four children in tow to support their famous dad.MORE: Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively receive support following baby's arrival from this well-known A-listerSEE: 8 seriously rare photos of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' four lookalike kidsThe 46-year-old captioned his post with: "Two unbelievable days of Wrexham football. Nearly 20,000 people passed through the gates of the Racecourse Ground. "@wrexham_afc won — but the main event was @wrexhamafcwomen winning it all and hoisting the big shiny trophy.

Todd Gilchrist editor Warner Bros. will commemorate its 100th anniversary with a block of programming on Turner Classic Movies starting April 1. TCM will broadcast remastered and newly restored versions of 10 classic Warner Bros. films, each featuring an introduction from a filmmaker or film expert culled from the network’s ongoing partnership with the Film Foundation, a non-profit preservation and exhibition organization. The program coincides with the April 13-16 run of the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood. On April 13, a new 4K restoration of 1959’s “Rio Bravo,” Howard Hawks’ classic western starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Angie Dickinson, will premiere on TCM and serve as the opening night film of the festival. Dickinson will attend the in-person event, while Martin Scorsese will introduce the film on TCM’s small-screen presentation. Similarly, Warner Bros. will premiere a new 4K restoration of Elia Kazan’s “East of Eden,” starring James Dean, on both the big screen and the network, the latter featuring an introduction by filmmakers Wes Anderson and Joanna Hogg.

EXCLUSIVE: Howard Swartz, who has overseen hundreds of hours of Shark Week programming, is exiting Warner Bros Discovery to take up a new role at Banijay Americas-owned Stephen David Entertainment.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Warner Bros. Discovery is giving a league of would-be providers of TV-audience measurement its own appraisal. After tapping Comscore, iSpot.TV and VideoAmp last year to help build a new suite of technologies that will help count viewers across linear, digital and connected television, the big entertainment company is paring down its provider list. Comscore and VideoAmp will serve as partners during Warner Bros. Discovery’s efforts during the industry’s next “upfront” sales session. “Our methodology was quite rigorous,” says Andrea Zapata, the company’s executive vice president and head of ad sales research, measurement and insights, in an interview.

What’s David Robert Mitchell been up to lately? Well, since “Under The Silver Lake,” not much, but that’s about to change. Deadline reports that Mitchell has his next project lined up at Warner Bros., and the director is teaming up with Anne Hathaway and the Bad Robot crew for a new mystery project.

series of layoffs and reshuffled top executives last year, and in the fourth quarter of 2022 it booked $3.05 billion in charges related to the merger.“Last year was a year of restructuring, 2023 will be a year of building. And off we go,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav told analysts on the company’s earnings call.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Hispanic has partnered with GroupM and Cocina Media on “El Toque de Aarón.” The all-new original seriesfollows celebrity chef Aarón Sánchez and his team as they help Latino restaurants in the Los Angeles area reach new heights. Kimberly Clark’s VivaÒ Paper Towels Brand will be an integrated sponsor, with other GroupM clients featured throughout the series. Sánchez will also act as an executive producer. The six-part series unfolds in Latino restaurants with great potential, ready to seize the opportunity to optimize their business – from devising a more exciting menu to improving the overall aesthetics to streamlining their execution and raising their public profile. Sánchez will help reimagine these restaurants to bring out their true soul, with a revamped menu and a refreshed space. In each 30-minute episode, the culinary wizard will put his personal touch on each menu item, while mentoring each restaurant’s chef and sharing tips and tricks of the trade along the way. Helping to round out the renewals with much-needed renovations are designer Cris Mercado (“HGTV Star; Remodelaciones con Celebridades“) and project manager Ángel Riveros (“Hogar Star”). Complicating matters is the fact that they have only four days to achieve this mission. The clock is ticking.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon Prime Video have set the launch date and pricing for their ‘Warner Pass’ offer in France to March 16. Priced at €9.99 per month, the offer will be available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video Channels in France, and will boast all of HBO programs, along with 12 channels, including Warner TV, Eurosport, Discovery Channel, Cartoon Network and CNN, as well as their associated on-demand services. Subscribers will benefit from a 30-day free trial until April 3. “The launch of Warner Pass exclusively as a Prime Video channel in France is the next step in our journey to become the destination for customers in France to find the best in storytelling, premium entertainment and sports,” said Brigitte Ricou-Bellan, Prime Video French Country Director.

which first reported the news, “in her new role, Imperato Stabile will lead the division responsible for all aspects of the Warner Bros.

Jenna Ortega may be ready to reunite with Tim Burton on his next project as sources confirm to Deadline that Ortega is in early talks to reunite with the Wednesday creator on Beetlejuice 2 at Warner Bros. Insiders add that Michael Keaton and Wyonna Ryder are expected to reprise their roles with Burton directing.

Bloomberg reported on Thursday and TheWrap independently confirmed.The name change is meant to signal that the service will not just be HBO Max with Discovery content, nor will HBO Max be ported over to Discovery+. “Max” is the leading contender, though Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Discovery is continuing its directors program after all.

Charna Flam After the recent decision to reshape its directors’ training program, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced its new Access Directors Program. WBD has rebranded and expanded the directors’ program to assist and nurture television directors through workshops and shadowing, led by WBD’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) team. Participants will receive the opportunity to direct a full WBD television episode. In addition to workshops, directors will have the chance to work on WBD shows and participate in a virtual curriculum focused on best practices and equity mindset sessions, with the ability to shadow directors on up to two television episodes (during which participants may receive a small childcare stipend).

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Never fear, genre fans: Warner Bros. Discovery is intent on mining as much of its tentpole Warner Bros. IP as possible in the near future, whether that be through its upcoming revamped DC Universe, the newly announced “The Lord of the Rings” movies, or more projects based on J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” franchise amid the success of video game “Hogwarts Legacy.” “DC is an enormous opportunity and two important building blocks are in place now with the leadership team, Peter [Safran] and James [Gunn], and James has been breathing comics for as long as he’s been alive, essentially,” Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said during a panel at Morgan Stanley’s investor conference Wednesday. “A great creative leader here. And the second building block that is in place is the one-company approach, because I think you can only manage a franchise if everything is coordinated and the team is working together extremely well. There’s an enormous level of collaboration and joint decision making around what should work hand in hand across the franchise.”

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Middle East satellite and streaming platform OSN Group has extended its relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery forging a new multi-year licensing deal under which it will become the exclusive home for HBO content in the region. In addition to HBO shows, such as “Succession,” the renewed agreement has been expanded to cover additional content and channel offerings from Warner Bros. giving OSN premium access to recent blockbuster movie hits such as “The Batman,” “Dune,” “The Matrix Resurrections,” and “The Suicide Squad.” The deal was announced in Dubai with “Succession” star Brian Cox on hand.

Japanese streamer U-Next has renewed its content deal with Warner Bros Discovery, under which it will continue to be the SVOD streaming home of HBO programming in Japan.