WARNER BROS CEO 'It's Show Business NOT Show Friends' David Zaslav Takes On WOKE Hollywood!

David Zaslav is not making any friends in Hollywood. For decades, industry people relied on Warner Bros to play by their set of rules and throw unlimited amounts of money around to do their projects. It's not going to happen anymore. Whether a project is too woke, or it doesn't make financial sense, Zaslav is making it clear money will not be wasted anymore just to keep "friends" or relationships good, example, there will never be another Clint Eastwood obvious money-loser project like Cry Macho at Warner Brothers. We also look at other major challenges to Warner Brothers Discovery's business.

PLAYLIST 31 VIDEOS: WARNER BROTHERS DISCOVERY & DAVID ZASLAV

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav faces 3 key challenges as financial headwinds disrupt his strategy and threaten his promises to Wall Street

Comcast's Solid Dividend Payout Supported By Free Cash Flow But Threatened By Debt

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WARNER BROTHERS DISCOVERY recent quarterly financial report

Warner Bros. Discovery faces huge integration issues while building its streaming Super App for summer 2023.
AT&T's rosy accounting led CEO David Zaslav to demand a big working capital adjustment in the merger.
Core cable assets are still the profit engine but Zaslav is currently dealing with Hollywood challenges.
When former Discovery CEO David Zaslav took over leadership of WarnerMedia in May, the box of TV and Hollywood crown jewels he inherited came with some ugly surprises.
For one, Warners' former owner, AT&T, had made such rosy projections about the business that Zaslav demanded a $1.2 billion working capital adjustment just before negotiations ended, according to one person closely familiar with the conversations. Zaslav was so adamant that AT&T CEO John Stankey give him a better accounting treatment in Discovery's acquisition of WarnerMedia that he threatened to walk away from the deal, according to this person.
Once the new management team at Warner Bros. Discovery got under the hood, they reduced the company's pre-tax profit projections, dropping EBITDA guidance for 2023 from $14 billion to $12 billion-plus.
A looming recession, rising debt costs, inflation, a declining ad market, increased competition, and the view on Wall Street that North American subscriber growth at Netflix has hit a wall are all making the gargantuan task of managing WBD even harder. New management find themselves with significantly less financial wiggle room than in April when the deal closed.
Investors, along with employees close to retirement, are taking a deep breath. On April 1, WBD ticker's first day of trading, the stock closed at $24.62; on Wednesday it closed at $12.22 (the S&P, meanwhile, had its worst first half in more than 50 years).
As the company works out how to wring $3 billion in synergies from its units, management has axed most of HBO Max's non-scripted division and TBS/TNT's scripted teams and there are questions about how the company will handle CNN's original documentaries and series led by Amy Entelis.
MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman crystallized the daunting task ahead for Zaslav and WBD in his August 5 report "Reality First. Dreams Second?" Noting the risk of a steeper decline in cable revenues before streaming can hit profitability in 2025, Fishman wrote, "We remain focused on how WBD will prioritize investing in DTC without hurting its linear networks portfolio, especially as it relates to its sports rights — most importantly the NBA — going forward?"
"The consensus in Hollywood is that everybody seems to think that they're in over their heads. The honeymoon was short-lived," said one senior Hollywood insider. "Fundamentally there are two ways out of the problem. Make hits with great taste, the other is to cut everything."

Zaslav and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels are looking out to 2023, when company layoffs will be largely finished — around 100 ad sales and support staff were laid off last week — and the planned combination of HBO Max and Discovery+ into a single "super app" can come to fruition.
But before things get better, Zaslav and his team have a host of difficult tasks ahead.
Layoffs, leadership moves, and questions about a future sale
When the deal closed, Zaslav and the team thought they'd be integrating two companies. It turns out there are five, housing some 40,000 employees globally: Warner Bros., HBO Max, the Turner entertainment channel business, CNN, and Discovery.

[one-upfilmz]

Even if it's a place of business. But the business feels like unprofessional business. Even though it's not about making friends but it sure means it's also not about making enemies either.

There is a difference between bad business and normal business. Even if your "not" to make friends. But it doesn't mean Zaslav literally has to destroy Warner Bro's legacy like this.

The man is desperate for money that he is suing Paramount over South Park rights even though Paramount owns it. And that doesn't sound like the "name of business" at all.

So all of this "this is a business, not a place to make friends" thing is an excuse for CEO's and corporations to keep causing more corporate meddling without getting blacklash for it.

David Zaslav is even the most overpaid CEO of the company's, is that suppose to be part of business?- and let's forget when he committed wage theft and canceled so many Scooby-Doo content that Scooby-Doo fans were looking forward to and gave Velma a 2nd season.

To top it off, he even said that the name "HBO" is the reason that subscribers are being pushed away from HBO Max.
Which is the most pathetic lie and excuse I have ever heard from him and the company.

This is very unprofessional of David Zaslav, everything he has done isn't gonna gain anymore trust from consumers or anyone if he keeps butchering HBO Max and good content people very much loved and valued just to make room for woke content such as Velma and Gotham Knights.

[creategreatness]

I like that they are going to offer one unified streaming platform as opposed to trying to juggle different services.

I am rooting hard for WBD to completely change the game in Hollywood. I can see a scenario where being business savvy pays off for them and they rise triumphantly as these other Hollywood studios over-spend, mismanage and crumble.

How hilarious would it be if people these days are speculating about someone like Comcast buying WBD, and if INSTEAD WBD ends up buying one of those other studios?

[azizulfikri]

Whenever I hear of Companies buying companies just to flip it in pieces always reminded me of Pretty Woman.

[jonesjustin]

Well if they have never been laid off then welcome to the World! I’ve been laid off 2 in my life the company restructuring or going under its life move on and get another job! ✌🏽

[TimelessWildlife]

I’m happy Warner Bros. Discovery is taking their Brands seriously

[satishtilokani]

THE CHANELS I WATCH SRE
CARTOON NETWORK
BOOMERANG
DISNEY XD
NICKTOONS
DISNEY CANEL
NICKALOODEIN
DISCOVERY FAMILY
TOONAMI
ADULT SWIM

[kevinclayton]

DZ is starting to get me excited to watch future films, focusing on the STORY instead of the SJW WOKE MESSAGING

[trevonpernell]

I think I've found the perfect guy for DC Productions, (which has a better ring than DC Studios imo): JEFF ROBINOV.

[brandonjacques]

I love how every single one of these videos praising this guy has aged poorly

[elh]

The most important thing they get right is dc hopefully they will make superman and rest dc characters right in big screen dc needs to be out there more then marvel woke agenda hopefully 10 year plane will work

[creategreatness]

The turn around has already started. House of the Dragon is proving to be a hit for HBO and HBOmax. It is absolutely decimating the FAR more expensive "Rings of Power" from Amazon. House of the Dragon is becoming appointment TV

The next big piece of the turnaround or fresh start will be Black Adam. I am a movie theater manager and we are STARVING for a big blockbuster. We have been basically since July. Everything that comes is doing okay, but nowhere near what we would like.

Any film designated as the "next big blockbuster" that comes after this wasteland would be set up to do really well. That film is Black Adam.

We are in the midst of a stretch of the Box Office just being led by R rated films that exclude teens and families. Woman King, R rated, Don't Worry Darling, R rated. Bros and Smile, R rated. Halloween Ends will be quite big on the 14th, but it is another R rated film. The Peacock debut is also going to hurt it, and it will probably hurt it more than it hurt Halloween Kills last year.

So on October 21st, a huge DC superhero blockbuster rated PG-13 and starring The Rock? That is going to be MASSIVE. Audiences are going to be absolutely starved for that sort of 4 quadrant film by the time Black Adam comes out. I can see it having a huge opening, especially for the month of October. It not only has weak competition but more importantly it is the first truly big blockbuster to come out, basically since July.