Is TCM in trouble? (1 Viewer)

[JPCinema]

From Hollywood Elsewhere, bad news
Warner Bros. Discovery, under the command of untrustworthy buccaneer David Zaslav, has begun to weaken and undermine Turner Classic Movies, beginning with 100 employees (overseen by Kathleen Finch) cut loose. TCM general manager Pola Changnon, a 25-year veteran, is ankling TCM. I feel the same outrage that everyone else is expressing, but can someone help me understand Zaslav’s thinking? He talked a good supportive game during a panel discussion at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival, and now he’s whipped around and wreaked havoc.

Zaslav doesn’t have an apparent argument with TCM’s film lover programming — he does, however, seem to have a beef with TCM’s financial losses, due to on-demand streaming and new financial realities. But TCM represents a fundamental faith among movie-culture fanatics, and killing this channel is wrong, wrong, terribly wrong.

 

[DVBRD]

Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese & Paul Thomas Anderson Set Emergency Meeting With Warner CEO David Zaslav Over Future Of Turner Classic Movies – Update With Statement

Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson will reportedly be convening with Warner CEO David Zaslav to discuss the future of TCM.

deadline.com

 

[Tino]

Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese & Paul Thomas Anderson Set Emergency Meeting With Warner CEO David Zaslav Over Future Of Turner Classic Movies – Update With Statement

Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson will reportedly be convening with Warner CEO David Zaslav to discuss the future of TCM.

deadline.com

Wrong forum.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I would be very upset if Zaslav shuts down TCM. Matter of fact, it would probably change my whole outlook about Warner and whatever they do going forward.

 

[TravisR]

I would be very upset if Zaslav shuts down TCM. Matter of fact, it would probably change my whole outlook about Warner and whatever they do going forward.

Yeah, that's a last straw kind of thing to me. I get that businesses need to make money but how about appealing to something that I want from your company even if it's not generating a billion dollars a year.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

There was a conference call about this today.

Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson Meet With WBD Chief David Zaslav Following TCM Layoffs

After Warner Bros. Discovery announced layoffs at Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on Tuesday, filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson conferred with WBD chief David Zaslav…

variety.com

 

[uncledougie]

Every time I’ve negotiated and renewed U-Verse, I tell the rep that mostly all that matters on general channels (excluding HBO, Showtime and the like) is TCM and MSNBC. We used to watch Discovery, Travel Channel, History Channel when they showed actual fact based shows. Occasionally something pops up on Discovery, etc that passes muster, but my DVR is crowded with TCM programming, which eventually I’ll whittle down while consuming other of their films. If TCM is ruined then likely my overall service will be whittled down or eliminated. It is the anchor of 80+% of my viewing. I doubt I’m alone in that. This is troubling in the extreme.

 

[bujaki]

TCM is the only reason I have cable. Without it, I'll just resort to streaming and my vast disc collection.

 

[Traveling Matt]

I feel the same outrage that everyone else is expressing, but can someone help me understand Zaslav’s thinking? He talked a good supportive game during a panel discussion at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival, and now he’s whipped around and wreaked havoc.

I immediately thought his appearance at the film festival was suspect. Such an unusual move, from someone with his reputation, looked like he was trying to get in front of something. Same feeling here as he apparently called the meeting with Spielberg and Scorsese, not the other way around. My fingers are crossed but I think this looks not so good.

 

[bmasters9]

I immediately thought his appearance at the film festival was suspect. Such an unusual move, from someone with his reputation, looked like he was trying to get in front of something. Same feeling here as he apparently called the meeting with Spielberg and Scorsese, not the other way around. My fingers are crossed but I think this looks not so good.

I may be incorrect about this, but something leads me to believe that he cares more about the modern stuff that makes money now, not the classics a lot of us have known from time immemorial.

 

[Traveling Matt]

I may be incorrect about this, but something leads me to believe that he cares more about the modern stuff that makes money now, not the classics a lot of us have known from time immemorial.

Oh, it's the money for sure. TCM isn't the MCU. It seemed likely there could be a problem to some degree, but Zaslav has such a negative public association in such a short time that any "goodwill" just seems like spin. Which I expect is the same here. There was the meeting with the TCM hosts (awkward), festival appearance (face-save), then cuts (predictable). Now there's the Spielberg/Scorsese meeting (awkward), then...?

 

[bmasters9]

Oh, it's the money for sure. TCM isn't the MCU. It seemed likely there could be a problem to some degree, but Zaslav has such a negative public association in such a short time that any "goodwill" just seems like spin. Which I expect is the same here. There was the meeting with the TCM hosts (awkward), festival appearance (face-save), then cuts (predictable). Now there's the Spielberg/Scorsese meeting (awkward), then...?

All that said, if TCM does cease to exist (let's hope it doesn't), it will be a big blow to a lot of fans of the classics, because practically all that'll be in the public eye is what's on now (the way I'm reading this).

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Have been watching TCM since 1995 and one of the things i miss are the documentaries they made. Glad i have a dvd recorder for many years to record the shows on to disc. I hope they will continue to be on my DirecTV service.

 

[Desslar]

I may be incorrect about this, but something leads me to believe that he cares more about the modern stuff that makes money now, not the classics a lot of us have known from time immemorial.

I don't get TCM unfortunately, so can only catch a glimpse when visiting others. Do they air recent movies now? How recent?

I recall that for its first decade or so Cartoon Network tried to cover the entirety of animation (well, other than Disney) from Looney Tunes to modern day. But by the end of the 00s, pre-1990 programming had largely disappeared.

 

[RobertMG]

Bottom line they have too much debt sell off CNN - make TCM over go back to movies NO social commentary etc they are receptive I drove Mr Tabesh crazy about doing Christmas In July and they are 7/25/23 Stck with Eddie Mueller and Ben - replay the great Private screenings with Bob Osborne. Tabesh out too Bob Osborne on record over the years praising Tabesh so sad TCM is in sad shape

 

[TravisR]

I don't get TCM unfortunately, so can only catch a glimpse when visiting others. Do they air recent movies now? How recent?

I'm sure there's examples to the contrary but I don't recall them playing a movie younger than the 1990's. Considering that was over two decades ago, I don't see a problem with the occasional more recent movie that's good.

 

[stuartfanning]

TCM's UK channel is closing on July 6th.

 

[benbess]

Plot Twist at Turner Classic Movies Upsets Film Fans

The network’s owner, Warner Bros. Discovery, promised there would be little to no change for viewers despite budget cuts behind the scenes.

www.nytimes.com

"....On Tuesday, the network, known as TCM, jettisoned its five most senior executives through a mix of buyouts and pink slips. The departed were Pola Chagnon, the general manager; Charlie Tabesh, the channel’s lead programmer; Genevieve McGillicuddy, who ran the annual TCM film festival; Anne Wilson, a production executive; and Dexter Fedor, a marketer....

In a business sense, TCM is a financial footnote for Warner Bros. Discovery, an entertainment conglomerate with roughly 37,000 employees worldwide and $34 billion in annual revenue. But like every other media mogul, Mr. Zaslav is wrestling with a no-win situation: Cable television, which has long powered media conglomerates, is in terminal decline, meaning that operational costs must also go down. Budget cuts have affected all of the company’s many divisions....

So the belt tightening at TCM was more about preservation than annihilation, at least in Warner Bros. Discovery’s view. Ben Mankiewicz, Jacqueline Stewart and the other TCM hosts will continue in their roles, according to a spokeswoman. TCM will continue to pay for access to classic films from all studios; there is no plan to restrict the channel to Warner Bros. movies. TCM will also continue to be featured as a “brand hub” on Max, the company’s streaming service. Michael Ouweleen, the president of Cartoon Network, among other channels, will oversee TCM going forward."

 

[Desslar]

Plot Twist at Turner Classic Movies Upsets Film Fans

The network’s owner, Warner Bros. Discovery, promised there would be little to no change for viewers despite budget cuts behind the scenes.

www.nytimes.com

"....On Tuesday, the network, known as TCM, jettisoned its five most senior executives through a mix of buyouts and pink slips. The departed were Pola Chagnon, the general manager; Charlie Tabesh, the channel’s lead programmer; Genevieve McGillicuddy, who ran the annual TCM film festival; Anne Wilson, a production executive; and Dexter Fedor, a marketer....

In a business sense, TCM is a financial footnote for Warner Bros. Discovery, an entertainment conglomerate with roughly 37,000 employees worldwide and $34 billion in annual revenue. But like every other media mogul, Mr. Zaslav is wrestling with a no-win situation: Cable television, which has long powered media conglomerates, is in terminal decline, meaning that operational costs must also go down. Budget cuts have affected all of the company’s many divisions....

So the belt tightening at TCM was more about preservation than annihilation, at least in Warner Bros. Discovery’s view. Ben Mankiewicz, Jacqueline Stewart and the other TCM hosts will continue in their roles, according to a spokeswoman. TCM will continue to pay for access to classic films from all studios; there is no plan to restrict the channel to Warner Bros. movies. TCM will also continue to be featured as a “brand hub” on Max, the company’s streaming service. Michael Ouweleen, the president of Cartoon Network, among other channels, will oversee TCM going forward."

Sounds a bit ominous, but hopefully TCM can carry on more or less as before. I met Michael Ouweleen once long ago, and he seems like the kind of guy would have a lot of respect for vintage media, cartoons or not.

 

[RobertMG]

Sounds a bit ominous, but hopefully TCM can carry on more or less as before. I met Michael Ouweleen once long ago, and he seems like the kind of guy would have a lot of respect for vintage media, cartoons or not.

Warner Bros. Discovery Negotiating $500 Million Deal to Sell Film and TV Music Publishing Assets

Warner Bros. Discovery is negotiating to sell around half of its film and TV music-publishing assets for approximately $500 million, sources confirm.

variety.com