Warner Brothers Discovery as a company was a mistake. And now the bosses are finally admitting it publicly. Not of course, by saying “woops, this was never going to work”. But by separating the company into two different and independent entities.
The fit with Time Warner and Discovery Networks’ portfolios never made sense together. The only thing they had in common was that they are both cable TV channels. One part is a premium TV/Streaming offering with prestige programming, and another is reality TV-based. Then there are the two general entertainment channels TNT and TBS, which have been totally stripped of their identities, which used to be pretty easy to define, with TBS as the home of comedy-based originals and TNT being an adult drama and sports offering. And don’t forget CNN.
“By operating as two distinct and optimized companies in the future, we are empowering these iconic brands with the sharper focus and strategic flexibility they need to compete most effectively in today’s evolving media landscape,” said WBD CEO David Zazlav.
What will the sepperated companies look like?
The Streaming & Studios comany: As of today’s announcement the company led by David Zazlav will consist of Warner Bros Television, Warner Bros Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO and HBO Max, as well as their film and television libraries and its games and experiances division.
Global Networks: Meanwhile the rest of the assets will be under the control of Gunnar Wiedenfels, will include premier entertainment, sports and news television brands around the world including CNN, TNT Sports in the U.S., and Discovery, top free-to-air channels across Europe, and digital products such as the profitable Discovery+ streaming service and Bleacher Report.
The sepperation sort of unburdons Zazlav from the debt he picked up in the merger by shunting off the legacy TV networks onto someone elses plate. Despite the kind words for the assets in truth WBD has been ripping everything that made the tv networks a recocnizable entity apart. The company scrapped all of the origional programming that defined TNT as a go to channel in the early 2000s and dropped all the original comedys from TBS. Recently it also let the NBA walk to a new deal with Amazon and NBC. The Turner assets essentially survive as places for filler content all day with nothing of note around it. And that along with CNN and Discovery Networks and Discovery+ will be left to fend for itself.
How Will This Work Out?
My guess is the Turner Networks won’t be on this side of the dirt much longer. There is almost nothing left on them. I would emagine that Bleacher report and the sports content that is left on the TV networks will be consolidated maybe as TNT or by another name. You know how these guys love name changes. CNN can stand on its own even if its viewership is declining and Discovery Networks will start selling its content out to other streaming services and continuing on with Discovery+
On the Studio Side this still feels like its a dying brand. How things go in the future will depend on a bunch of unrelated issues. For instance, if the new Superman movie blows the doors off this summer you can expect James Gunn to continue popping out franchise tentpoles and related TV content. If the movie fails you could see changes from the firing of Gunn to selling the movie studio.
Would anybody be surprised to see the companies come back together and launch a new app that put it all in one place?
