Warner Bros Discovery Stumbles In Q3, Falling Short Of Wall Street Targets Due To Ad Slowdown, Pay-TV Losses And Restructuring Charges

John Dartigue, a 22-year Warner Bros executive who rose to VP Publicity and supervised campaigns for such hits as The Fugitive and The Dark Knight and after starting his career at United Artists and working on the first 10 James Bonds pics, has died. He was 82.

John Oliver got bold on the season finale of Last Week Tonight when he called out his employer, Warner Bros. Discovery, once again.

What is going on with the “Harry Potter” film franchise? That’s a question that is growing more and more opaque as the months go on. After a massively successful film series covering all of J.K.

The era of James Gunn and Peter Safran and the new DC Studios umbrella has officially begun. And in a town hall meeting today at Warner Bros.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline hears that a global zoom meeting was held for Warner Discovery employees this morning, on which CEO David Zaslav introduced the new DC Studios Co-Chairmen and CEOs, James Gunn and Peter Safran. This was their first appearance together before the company since being named to their posts on Oct. 25.

Director Steven Spielberg hates the way streaming services – and HBO Max in particular – are treating filmmakers.

EXCLUSIVE: Black Beauty Roster and Warner Bros. Discovery have today announced their partnership on a new, one-of-a-kind program that will afford hairstylists and makeup artists from historically marginalized communities the chance to position themselves for a department head position in entertainment.

Is Disney suddenly giving off Netflix vibes?

John Malone, billionaire Liberty Media chairman and architect of the Warner Bros Discovery merger, believes WBD’s mix of ad-free and ad-supported streaming under CEO David Zaslav will succeed “if he makes good stuff.”

What does Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav have in mind for his studio’s near future? Deadline reports that on a Q3 earnings call yesterday afternoon, Zaslav detailed exactly what he envisions, and it’s all about big tentpole franchises.

When the NBA signs its next broadcast deal, which comes up in 2025, the league wants to make sure that it can appeal to younger viewers plugged in to streaming, while also bringing in a big cheque.

In the near future, it’s pretty simple what the new Warner Bros Discovery will zero in on: “We’re going to have a real focus on franchises,” President and CEO David Zaslav said on this afternoon’s Q3 earnings call.

By the time HBO Max merges debuts next spring as a fortified offering encompassing Discovery+, it will have gone three years without any adjustments to its price or the ad experience on the cheaper subscription tier. Get ready for that to change, with Warner Bros Discovery streaming and games CEO JB Perrette indicating prices will head “north” and the ad load could potentially double from its current level.

The combined HBO Max and Discovery+ service is coming sooner than expected.

Newly crowned Warner Bros Film Group Co-Chairpersons and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy will receive The Producers Guild of America’s 2023 Milestone Award.

Tomorrow, we hear is Courtenay Valenti’s last day as Warner Bros. President of Production and Development after we told you first that she was exiting the Burbank, CA lot after a 33-year run.

EXCLUSIVE: Kathrine Narducci will be working again, not just with Robert De Niro, but also filmmaker Barry Levinson, in the latter’s mob pic Wise Guys at Warner Bros.

The Warner Bros Worldwide Marketing vet is in talks for the top Film & TV, Marketing post at Amazon Studios, sources tell us. The rumor has been around for a while, and we understand it’s becoming more real, and it really shouldn’t surprise as Sue Kroll has been a marketing consultant at Amazon Studios for six months. Sources tell us that the streamer and Kroll are still working out details.

Warner Bros. Discovery will take a hit of between $1.3 billion and $1.6 billon in pre-tax restructuring charges for the third quarter ended in September as part of the ongoing merge of its operations, primary from content write-downs.