Warner Bros Discovery, Viacom18 Sign Exclusive Content Partnership For India

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery has asked talent not to appear in-person at their Wednesday upfronts presentation, so as not to put those individuals in a position where they need to cross the Writers Guild of America’s picket line amid the ongoing writers strike, Variety has learned. A source close to the situation says this choice was made by WBD out of respect for both the talent and the writers on strike. However, talent will be represented in other ways throughout the show, and the event will cover all parts of the WBD business operations. The original pre-strike plan had been for a robust lineup, including big WBD stars like Magnolia Network’s Chip and Joanna Gaines, but has been trimmed down since the strike went into effect May 2, when the WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to ink a new contract.

JioCinema Premium has revealed an annual subscription plan of INR999 ($12.13) for Warner Bros. Discovery content. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is behind Viacom18 and JioCinema. Warner Bros. Discovery and Viacom18 signed a multi-year agreement recently 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.  Television series will premiere on JioCinema on the same day as the U.S. The deal includes current and future seasons of HBO’s “House of The Dragon,” “The Last of Us,” “Succession” and “The White Lotus,” and returning seasons of “True Detective: Night Country,” “Euphoria,” “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” and “Perry Mason.”

took home $39.3 million last year, after receiving a pay package in 2021 that soared to $246 million in 2021 thanks to a hefty $203 million stock options that was tacked on to his pay. Shareholders appear to be unhappy with the pricey package he’s receiving.The debt-laden company said in an SEC filing that just over half of the shareholder votes cast on the question of the 2022 executive compensation plan — commonly known as a “say on pay” vote — were in favor, while 49.2% voted against the proposal.The vote is an advisory one, and is non-binding, but the SEC requires such votes at least once every three years.

Stockholders have expressed serious displeasure with 2022 executive compensation at Warner Bros. Discovery led by CEO David Zaslav, according to the result of a vote at the annual meeting Monday that was filed with the SEC today.

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.

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.

Max streaming service, David Zaslav and Warner Bros. embraced theatrical as they showed off their upcoming 2023 slate at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.Zaslav made his debut at the movie theater trade show on Tuesday with a lengthy speech that earned plenty of applause from cinema execs, especially when he reaffirmed his company’s plans to never go back to the day-and-date releasing model that his predecessor, Jason Kilar, rolled out for all of Warner’s theatrical releases in 2021. “We believe in full theatrical windows, we don’t believe in direct to streaming.

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.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has learned that Warner Bros Discovery CEO and President, David Zaslav, will be teeing off Warner Bros studio presentation at CinemaCon on Tuesday AM, April 25.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Paramount Global fired back on Wednesday in the battle over “South Park” streaming rights, accusing Warner Bros. Discovery of withholding $52 million in license fees. Warner Bros. Discovery sued Paramount in February, alleging that the company had breached its $500 million licensing deal with HBO Max by diverting “South Park” specials to Paramount+. On Wednesday, Paramount filed a counterclaim, alleging that HBO Max got everything it bargained for under the agreement, but has nevertheless withheld two required payments of $26 million apiece. The countersuit, filed in New York Supreme Court, also argues that the unpaid fees cover the 300-plus episodes of “South Park” now streaming on HBO Max, which are not in dispute in the lawsuit.

The last time the parent company of Warner Bros and HBO promoted the launch of a streaming service, it faced the once-a-century challenge of the coronavirus pandemic.

John Oliver greeted the Last Week Tonight viewers by taking a swing at “business daddy” Warner Bros. Discovery after announcing the rebranding of HBO Max to Max.