Warner/Discovery

[mwynn]

Originally Posted by veritas

The thing is they have around 37 billion in debt. So they need probably around 2 billion in profits just to service their debts interest payments.

When this split was announced. I thought the goal was to unload the debt. They are setting up the Discovery portion for a sale.

“Majority” of Warner Bros. Discovery’s $37 Billion in Debt Will Be Spun Off With TV Networks, Its CEO Says
But “a not-insignificant portion” will remain with Streaming & Studios — and with David Zaslav.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bu...ny-1236259848/

[BluBonnet]

Uh-oh


+

[mwynn]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

Uh-oh


+

They did the split for a reason.

[BluBonnet]

[Jay Mammoth]

[mwynn]

Warner Bros. Discovery Adds 3.4 Million Streaming Subscribers, But ‘Minecraft’ and ‘Sinners’ Power Earnings
Thanks to box office hits, studios' revenue hit $3.8 billion, up 55 percent from a year ago, in the second quarter.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bu...ad-1236338944/

On a morning analyst call, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav talked about pulling back on library content licensing to rival streamers to focus on HBO Max and its consumer appeal. “In order to differentiate HBO Max, it’s important that there are a wealth of properties, quality properties, that reinforce that you only get this at HBO Max, and that’s working for us in terms of driving growth,” he argued.

[VictoryAtNight]

As reported by Rotten Tomatoes, this is apparently the first time a movie studio has ever been on such a hot streak. It all started with A Minecraft Movie in April. Since then, WB has been on an impressive and historic box office run. Here’s the full breakdown of each movie the studio has released and how much it made during opening weekend:

A Minecraft Movie – April – $162 million
Sinners – April – $48 million
Final Destination: Bloodlines – $51 million
F1 – $51 million
Superman – $125 million
Weapons – $42 million

https://kotaku.com/wb-warner-bros-st...aft-2000616900

I forgot about F1 being Warner Bros.

[VictoryAtNight]

Warner Bros. Entertainment strikes a new licensing deal between its HBO Max streaming service and GKIDS. Variety confirms that HBO Max and GKIDS will continue their partnership, with 20 additional live-action and animated features arriving on the streamer. The new programs coming to HBO Max are a mixture of classic anime films and popular live-action movies, including Shin Godzilla. Among the notable anime films coming to Max are Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue, Mamoru Oshii’s Angel’s Egg, and Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name. Many anime titles will be arriving on HBO Max with their 4K streaming debut, gifting subscribers with the highest possible video quality.

https://comicbook.com/anime/news/hbo...shin-godzilla/

Great news.

[Jay Mammoth]

Originally Posted by VictoryAtNight

https://kotaku.com/wb-warner-bros-st...aft-2000616900

I forgot about F1 being Warner Bros.

They killing it.

[ctujackbauer]

There has been a lot of reporting about cable ratings eroding due to cord cutting. The destruction in broadcast network ratings is even more worrisome - the broadcast networks are losing people even faster than many cable channels.

This article is from ZeroHedge (they're the only media source posting the graphics and statistics from the Goldman Nielsen ratings tracker) and the drops are staggering. Comcast is down 49% year over year. WB is in the middle at -20% year over year. The prior year at NBC included the Summer Olympics.

The "halo" broadcast networks aren't included in the spinoff of toxic assets like cable TV channels are, but they might have to consider including them at this rate. It's strange to think that not that long ago, 2 decades or so, we were in the middle of the golden age of TV and cable. Now we're entering the dead age.

[vertigop1ayer]

Originally Posted by ctujackbauer

There has been a lot of reporting about cable ratings eroding due to cord cutting. The destruction in broadcast network ratings is even more worrisome - the broadcast networks are losing people even faster than many cable channels.

This article is from ZeroHedge (they're the only media source posting the graphics and statistics from the Goldman Nielsen ratings tracker) and the drops are staggering. Comcast is down 49% year over year. WB is in the middle at -20% year over year. The prior year at NBC included the Summer Olympics.

The "halo" broadcast networks aren't included in the spinoff of toxic assets like cable TV channels are, but they might have to consider including them at this rate. It's strange to think that not that long ago, 2 decades or so, we were in the middle of the golden age of TV and cable. Now we're entering the dead age.

In a sense, it probably doesn't matter that much. What I mean is, even the networks the industry considers prestige brands hold only diminishing value unless they unlock huge opportunities in the world of streaming, bringing pods and programming on digital platforms which can attract the kind of revenue and profits that matter. But I don't see almost of them being well-positioned to take advantage of this, short of the new company ironically putting a lot of its eggs in trying to make Discovery+ a serious streaming rival and destination for content from all these networks. And even then, I think Peacock and Paramount+ are making it abundantly clear there isn't endless demand for another major streaming service.

So in the end they need to be way more creative and for the sake of their workforce I hope they do, but it doesn't seem likely. Managed decline appears to be the easiest and most likely path.

[mwynn]

Warner Bros. Discovery Sues AI Giant Midjourney for Copyright Infringement In Major Legal Battle
The lawsuit was filed as a growing contingent of Hollywood steps into the fight over generative artificial intelligence.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bu...&utm_id=631320