WarnerMedia merger with Discovery. What now? (1 Viewer)

[Filmfanatic10]

You mean those dumbasses who lost the studio half a billion on their ill-advised rush to create a DCEU to counter Marvel?

Nah they ain't coming back.

They didn't ruin the DC films, and that's not the reason they were fired. The AT&T heads and their cronies Kilar and Sarnoff only fired them all because of COVID-19, and they made this disastrous decision for Warner Bros. to go streaming-only. What's even worse is that Ron Sanders' firing was largely connected to his theatrical distribution role, which he was misplaced in (while continuing his home entertainment role) two years before the pandemic shut down theaters.

 

[Filmfanatic10]

You don't know who those people are, even after they were all fired wrongfully?

 

[Capt D McMars]

You don't know who those people are, even after they were all fired wrongfully?

Correct, with the corporate mindset it's changing like the wind, right wrong...sad but...not holding all the facts makes interpitation impossible!

 

[SFMike]

I wish I had faith in corporate decision making....I don't.

 

[Filmfanatic10]

I wish I had faith in corporate decision making....I don't.

Really. If it wasn't for the telephone people and these other Hollywood outsiders including Kilar and Sarnoff, then Sanders and his team would have stayed at Warners, plus he would have started collaborating with Eddie Cunningham at SDS (which he was in the middle of negotiations on by the time of his firing), since I heard they've been friends. Besides, that's just proof that a company like AT&T (and AOL before them) aren't the right people to own a movie studio.

 

[Garysb]

Not liking what I am so far seeing with the merger. TNT and TBS no longer developing original scripted series. I hope they don't touch Turner Classic Movies (TCM)

Warner Bros. Discovery Cuts Scripted Programming Development at TBS, TNT (EXCLUSIVE)

TNT and TBS are moving out of the scripted game under new parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, Variety has learned exclusively.

variety.com

 

[Capt D McMars]

Not liking what I am so far seeing with the merger. TNT and TBS no longer developing original scripted series. I hope they don't touch Turner Classic Movies (TCM)

Warner Bros. Discovery Cuts Scripted Programming Development at TBS, TNT (EXCLUSIVE)

TNT and TBS are moving out of the scripted game under new parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, Variety has learned exclusively.

variety.com

 

[Garysb]

Warner Bros. Discovery Faces First Post-Honeymoon Earnings As Layoffs, Streaming Decisions Loom

Warner Bros. Discovery is heading into a very important week.

deadline.com

No mention of Home Video or CNN.

The linear Turner Networks were the first major target and have already seen a slew of changes including the departure of Brett Weitz, general manager of TNT, TBS & truTV; SVP Original Programming Adrienne O’Riain; and unscripted chief Corie Henson. The combined networks group, now led by Nancy Daniels under Kathleen Finch, has cut a number of unscripted series such as The Big D, weeks ahead of its premiere, and let go a number of big-ticket development as well as axed/ended most scripted series such as Chad, Snowpiercer and Kill the Orange Bear.

It’s believed that over time, a new programming strategy will be put in place that will include cheaper reality fare and potentially new scripted series.

On the unscripted front, there have been constant rumors that the company will make sizable cuts to HBO Max’s alternative team led by Jennifer O’Connell, who also runs live-action kids/family programming, an area from which the streamer has already pulled back.

Overall, outside of possible further consolidation with HBO Max, HBO will likely remain business as usual. Zaslav is a noted admirer of what HBO and HBO Max Chief Content Officer Bloys and his team have achieved, as evidenced by him signing the exec to a new five-year contract. Zaslav also was front and center at this week’s glitzy premiere of HBO’s House of the Dragon, which is expected to get one of the biggest ever — and possibly the biggest — marketing campaign for an HBO/HBO Max series.

Sports is expected to be a continued focus for the Turner Networks, which see the NBA and NHL, Major League Baseball and March Madness college basketball as linchpins for the networks.

Proper management of the big franchises is a top priority, with finding a DC chief who can revitalize the comic book universe the way Kevin Feige has done with Marvel of upmost importance.

 

[uncledougie]

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone come in and look to just outright gut a company like this,” one longtime senior Warner vet tells Deadline.

From the above referenced link. Well, that doesn’t bode too well from the sound of it.

 

[RobertMG]

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone come in and look to just outright gut a company like this,” one longtime senior Warner vet tells Deadline.

From the above referenced link. Well, that doesn’t bode too well from the sound of it.

With what 6k films they control cut out the reality and the scripted shows that are the same as the rest --- yawn and show films classic films like they used to all of Turners channels pulled the same routine Yogi Bear - Huck cartoons classic films old tv shows like Perry Mason then they started adding other junk I have not watched TNT TBS is 20 years ---- Boomerang was supposed to be classic Yogi, Quick Draw, Huck Ruff n Ready Snooper Magilla jetsons ----- Boomerang is now junk

 

[Garysb]

Batgirl film cancelled.

"An on-record reason for the shelving has, of course, not been released. But according to reports, the nearly completed film — whose budget is said to have ballooned to more than $90 million — was not testing well enough with audiences to instill confidence in Warner Bros. Discovery, which has ramped up its cost-cutting efforts following Warner Bros. merger with Discovery."

Batgirl Movie Cancelled, Won’t Be Released on HBO Max or Theatrically

Warner Bros. Discovery is hanging up Batgirl's cowl much earlier than expected

tvline.com

 

[Garysb]

Lawmakers Want DOJ To Investigate Warner Bros Discovery Merger, Claiming It Harmed Workers And Reduced Content Choice; Cite Axed ‘Batgirl’ In Letter

The lawmakers want the DOJ to probe the merger impact on labor markets.

deadline.com

“The company has the incentive and ability to eliminate broad swaths of its workforce, leaving workers with fewer choices for employment and advancement,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter.