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Killing an all-but-completed movie would alienate the people Zaslav — or at least Hollywood — needed most: the people who made the movies. Under fire, Zaslav defended the decision in an earnings call with analysts, saying he shelved “Batgirl” to protect the DC brand. More quietly, Zaslav also sought cover in the authority of Bryan Lourd, the powerful co-chairman of Creative Artists Agency and a leading arbiter of Hollywood mores. As Zaslav told it to several associates, Lourd had supported the decision, observing that it wasn’t in the interest of C.A.A. “We have made unpopular decisions because they were necessary.”Hollywood was in trouble before David Zaslav came to town.

Persons: Zaslav, Wiedenfels, Batgirl ”, Michael Keaton, ”, Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah, Walter Hamada, Courtenay Valenti, Bryan Lourd, Lourd, Leslie Grace, “ Bryan Lourd, ’ ”, David Zaslav, “ Organizations: DC Comics, Hollywood, DC, Warner Brothers, Creative Artists Agency, Discovery, McKinsey, W.B.D Locations: Scotland, New York, Hollywood, W.B.D

NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood’s months of labor unrest are coming to an end, but the post-strike landscape that awaits actors and writers may be far from happy-ever-after. That helter-skelter transition threw much of the economics of entertainment out of whack. “Going through that with a streaming service that’s losing billions of dollars is really, really difficult to go on offense.”Cancellations have grown more commonplace as streamers get more selective. Due in part to the strikes, series production will dip for the first time in years in 2023 after reaching an all-time high last year, when 599 original series were made. “And so I think really we will see over the coming days, weeks and months what the industry’s real intentions are.

Persons: —, HBO Max, Max ”, ”, Jonathan Taplin, Crypto, Taplin, Puck’s Matt Belloni, Walt, Bob Iger, ” Iger, I’ve, it’s, Peacock, David Zaslav, Max, ” Zaslav, “, Martin Scorsese’s, Ridley Scott’s “ Napoleon, ” Duncan Crabtree, Krysta Fauria Organizations: Hollywood, SAG, HBO, Netflix, USC, Innovation Lab, International Alliance, Walt Disney Co, Disney, Comcast, Warner Bros . Discovery, Apple Studios, Associated Press Locations: Hollywood, Los Angeles

Discovery boss David Zaslav called for Hollywood to work together to end the writers and actors strikes, which have crippled Hollywood and which WBD this week said could cost the company as much as $500 million this year. “We really have to focus as an industry, and we are, on trying to get this resolved in a way that’s really fair,” Zaslav told the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference on Wednesday. As soon as the strikes are resolved, he said, “everybody is ready to get back to work, us in particular.”Warner Bros. SAG-AFTRA, which represents about 160,000 actors, joined the writers on strike on July 14. We need to do everything we can to get people back to work,” Zaslav said.

Persons: David Zaslav, “, ” Zaslav, Goldman Sachs, Warner, Mario Anzuoni, Reuters “, Shawn Fain, doesn’t Organizations: CNN, Warner Bros, Hollywood, Technology, The, Guild of America, SAG, Writers Guild of America, Netflix, Reuters, “, ” Unions, Teamsters, UPS, United Auto Workers, GM, Ford, UAW Locations: Hollywood, Los Angeles , California, U.S

☆ CNN staffers breathe sigh of relief after dismissal of embattled network chief. Now they wonder, what’s next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN staffers don’t want the organization to be known for and consumed by a never-ending soap opera starring the C-suite. With Chris Licht’s dismissal as chairman and chief executive of CNN on Wednesday morning, staffers are aiming to get back to that mission. In recent months, David Zaslav, chief executive of CNN parent Warner Bros. The piece, in which Alberta spoke to more than 100 CNN employees, called into question Licht’s ability to lead the organization moving forward. Will the next network chief be an improvement over Licht?

Persons: don’t, Chris Licht’s, Jeff Zucker, Licht, David Zaslav, Zaslav’s, David Leavy, Tim Alberta, Zaslav, —, “, ”, ” Zaslav, “ It’s, Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley, Eric Sherling, WBD Organizations: CNN, Employees, Warner Bros, Hudson, New Locations: Alberta, New York

☆ CNN Chairman and CEO Chris Licht is out after a brief and tumultuous tenure
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —Chris Licht, the embattled chief executive and chairman of CNN, whose brief one-year tenure at the network was stained by a series of severe missteps, departed the company on Wednesday. “I met with Chris and he will be leaving CNN,” David Zaslav, the chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. But it became increasingly clear that Licht’s tenure as the chief executive was not tenable and quickly coming to an end. The CNN chief had, in effect, lost the room. Hundreds of CNN employees were laid off in late November and early December.

Persons: Chris Licht, “, Chris, ” David Zaslav, Jeff Zucker, Stephen Colbert ”, Kevin Mazur, Tim Alberta, Licht, David Leavy, Zaslav, ”, ” Zaslav, “ It’s, Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley, Eric Sherling, Joe ”, Licht’s, Zucker, Brian Stelter, Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow, Kaitlan Collins, Lemon, Donald Trump, Christiane Amanpour Organizations: New, New York CNN, CNN, Warner Bros, CNN Worldwide, Discovery, CBS, Columbia Journalism School, Licht Locations: New York, CNN’s Hudson, Alberta

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery reengineers the traditional TV bundle for the streaming era
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

In effect, WBD announced that it is recreating the bundle, erecting the pillars of a one-stop shop for scripted and unscripted television, movies, news and sports at a flat monthly rate. Insider Intelligence analyst Paul Verna noted to me that the WBD competitor has “resisted the temptation” to combine Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Instead, Verna observed that Disney is “leaning into each brand’s core strength,” though Disney does offer the ability to purchase the individual services in a bundle. But it goes without saying that Max — the product of the merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery — represents the future for WBD, which has been entrenched in the declining traditional TV business. The Max service launches May 23.

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery unveils 'Max' super-streaming service
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The new service, announced by CEO David Zaslav at a press event Wednesday, will launch May 23 and give consumers access to a large library of programming across Warner Bros. Discovery’s sprawling portfolio: Warner Bros., HBO, HGTV, Food Network, Cartoon Network, TLC and others. The ad-free version will cost $15.99, the price of the company’s existing HBO Max service. Warner Bros. Discovery's forthcoming "Max" streaming service Courtesy of Max“We are a global leader in sports and we are a global leader in news,” Zaslav said. Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Pictures, film subsidiary of Warner Bros. "We're spending more money this year than we've ever spent historically," Warner Bros Chief Executive David Zaslav told a conference call. Warner Bros posted a third-quarter loss of $2.3 billion, or 95 cents a share, which includes $1.5 billion in pre-tax restructuring charges. Warner Bros Discovery, home to hit franchises such as "Batman" and "Euphoria," added 2.8 million new streaming subscribers in the third quarter, bringing its total to 94.9 million. A merger of HBO Max and Discovery+ will debut on an accelerated timetable, in spring of 2023.

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