Warner Bros. Intl. TV Production Folds Danish Production Division; Consolidates Scandinavian Operations

@wbpictures Sky went black for a minute. @warnerbrostours evacuated.

BreAnna Bell Karen Horne has exited her post as Senior V.P. of North America Diversity Equity and Inclusion for Warner Bros. Discovery as part of the company’s restructuring. A WBD memo from Chief Global DEI Officer Asif Sadiq to staffers, which Variety has obtained, revealed the news on Friday. Horne oversaw the DEI efforts for creative talent development pipeline programs, workforce, content and production while working closely with Sadiq to craft a global strategy for the company. She joined the company in March of 2020, and was responsible for creating and implementing multiple pipeline programs that aim to amplify the voices of underrepresented communities. Prior to her appointment, Horne was at NBC Entertainment and Universal Television Studios as Senior Vice President, Programming Talent Development and Inclusion where she was responsible for overseeing in-front-of and behind-the-camera primetime diversity efforts for NBC and Universal Television. While there, she started the Late-Night Writers Workshop in 2013.

Warner Bros. left a cloud of smoke billowing over the Burbank lot, but luckily firefighters were able to quickly contain the blaze. There were no injuries, according to an individual familiar with the incident. The fire was first reported by the Citizen app, which had video of the smoke, as well as a caption that said, “Firefighters report a burning transformer and are working to contain the blaze.” The post also said that, “Firefighters report that a power outage has occurred after an explosive sound.” The fire started right around 1:30 p.m. PT and giant clouds of black smoke quickly gathered in the air. The blaze caused lots of traffic outside the studios as a result of the fire department working quickly.

Karen Horne, who led led Warner Bros. Discovery Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for North America, is leaving the company amid a raft of layoffs and major restructuring since the merger. Executive said Horne’s departure was not part of the broader staff retrenchment but a rethinking of the DEI division.

Barbie.” Currently, you can pre-order a Barbie-themed Xbox that you can play in your Barbie painted home (part of the movie’s partnership with Backdrop paint) and sleep in a bed with Barbie pillows (as part of their partnership with online retailer Kitsch). And don’t forget to protect all that with a home insurance policy courtesy of Progressive, whose new commercial takes place in Barbie’s Dreamhouse! And that’s just the few that pop up on TV, Twitter and Instagram feeds in the last 48 hours. It’s not precisely known how many active “Barbie” partnerships are currently out there, but “Barbie” mania is upon us — and it’s impressing everyone in Hollywood.

Jesse Armstrong and Danny McBride will have some individual independence to celebrate this holiday weekend.

CNN is exploring ways to put more of its news offerings on Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, with a report that plans are in the works to offer live programming on the platform outside the U.S.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor After spending months keeping CNN from expanding into streaming, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery appears to have changed its mind. Warner Bros. Discovery is exploring ways to get more CNN programing on to its Max streaming service, according to a person familiar with the matter, looking at the news outlet’s broader portfolio to see what content might work. Executives will have to navigate agreements with CNN’s traditional distributors that often require cable and satellite companies get first access to CNN’s live broadcasts. Yet CNN’s rivals have grappled with similar obstacles and found ways to repurpose the news and opinion shows they run. The Fox Nation streaming outlet runs Fox News Channel’s opinion programs a day later. Fox News in 2020 unveiled a new international service that puts its programs in countries such as Mexico and Spain. MSBNC in March of last year unveiled a plan to offer episodes of “Morning Joe,” “Deadline: White House,” “The Beat with Ari Melber,” “The ReidOut,” “All In with Chris Hayes” and MSNBC’s opinion programs on the Peacock streaming hub on-demand the day after they air on cable.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Viaplay Group has unveiled its new operating model and executive management team for the Nordics as it anticipates an economic downturn. Earlier this month, Viaplay issued a warning over its second-quarter results and told employees that it would merge the Swedish and Norwegian units of its production arm into a new entity named Viaplay Studios. The listed banner also has new leadership — Anders Jensen stepped down and was replaced by Jorgen Madsen Lindemann as Viaplay’s CEO and president. Under the new operating model, which will be effective on July 1, the daily operation and strategic development of the businesses will be spearheaded by country management teams. Madsen Lindemann will be interim CEO of the Swedish and Finnish operations; Lars Bo Jeppesen has been appointed as EVP and CEO of the Danish and Icelandic operations and will join on Aug. 1.; and Kenneth Andresen has been appointed as interim CEO of the Norwegian operation.

RTVE, Spain’s public broadcaster, was sensed at an upbeat showcase on Wednesday.

Denmark’s new streaming levy could have “unintended consequences,” claims a European video-on-demand body.

News kept on churning this week — from Sunday morning until end of Friday — on the Warner Bros. Discovery front.

Variety, in wake of the exit of network head Pola Changnon this week. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav had been considering bringing in De Luca and Abdy for some time, insiders said, to rely on their cinephile instincts and shape the best possible programming slate for the channel — one beloved by Hollywood titans and film fans for its showcase of film history. TCM will still exist with the US Networks Group run by Kathleen Finch. While De Luca and Abdy will advise, a senior executive in charge of operations is expected to be named in the future. Warner Bros. Discovery had no comment on the matter.

layoffs of several other members of the network’s top brass amid cuts of 100 staffers across Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S.

Amidst mounting concern for the future of Turner Classic Movies following the latest in restructuring at Warner Bros Discovery, CEO David Zaslav has looked to assuage fears by placing the channel under the control of Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, the Co-Chairpersons and CEOs of Warner Bros Film Group, Deadline can confirm.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Warner Bros. Discovery is negotiating to sell around half of the storied Warner studio’s film and TV music-publishing assets for approximately $500 million, three sources confirm to Variety. The news was first reported by Hits. While it is unclear exactly which assets are on the table, one source says that the rights to “slightly less than half” of the catalog, with a price of around $500 million, are likely to go to a major label, with Sony said to be in the lead. The catalog is believed to include music from such films as “Purple Rain,” “Evita,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Rent” several “Batman” films and many more titles, as well as songs included in iconic films such as “As Time Goes By” from “Casablanca” — iconic titles to be sure, but again, it is unclear exactly which rights are in play. Top attorney Allen Grubman is said to be overseeing the deal for Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a CEO in the film and TV industry to have such an immediate impact as David Zaslav over at Warner Bros. Discovery.

Pola Changnon, who runs Turner Classic Movies (TCM), is the latest executive to leave as part of the Warner Bros. Discovery shakeup.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Warner Bros. Discovery has begun implementing layoffs in its domestic cable group, cuts that will affect about 100 employees across legacy Discovery and Turner outlets. Amid the shuffle, TCM general manager Pola Changnon is leaving the classic movie channel after more than 25 years with TCM and Turner. Michael Ouweleen, president of Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Discovery Family and Boomerang, will oversee TCM, as he did prior to the Warner Bros.-Discovery merger in 2022. The plan for layoffs across Warner Bros. Discovery’s major divisions were signaled late last year when the company faced extreme financial pressure amid rising losses from its streaming operations and the weakening macroeconomy. WBD’s domestic cable channels — including Discovery, TNT, TBS, TLC, HGTV, Food Network and CNN — were once the envy of the industry in terms of viewership and profitability. But the fast-changing pay TV marketplace and the rise of on-demand streaming has upended the reliable cable TV earnings power that made the former Time Warner a dynamo in the 1990s and early 2000s.

EXCLUSIVE: As Deadline revealed in May, Warner Bros. Discovery is undergoing another round of layoffs in its television business and it’s starting today.