David Zaslav Raises Curtain on Warner Bros. Discovery: ‘This Really Is a Moment For Us as an Industry’

variety.com:

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorWarner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav raised the curtain on the combined Warner Bros. Discovery, kicking off the newly merged media giant’s upfront presentation Wednesday morning by declaring the company to be “the largest maker of motion picture and television content in the world.”Kicking off the presentation at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, Zaslav admitted to the packed house that he was “a little nervous” to show off the company that closed its $43 billion transaction with AT&T just six weeks ago.Zaslav detailed the combined company’s breadth of assets and its goal of being “a place for bold, impactful storytelling with the power to entertain, inform and when we’re at our best, inspire.” He also took time to call out three legendary media figures that he called “personal heroes”: famed cable pioneer and investor John Malone, cable visionary and CNN founder Ted Turner and the late Warner Bros.

leader Steve Ross, who rebuilt the ailing studio starting in the early 1970s into the conglomerate that became Time Warner.“Steve Ross understood that we are in the storytelling and talent business,” Zaslav said.Beyond the importance of the presentation to the new company, Zaslav pointed to the unprecedented upheaval and transformation across the industry.

He invoked the legacy of a trailblazer from a generation ago.“This really is a moment, not just for us as a company but for us as an industry,” Zaslav said. “More than 30 years ago, Rupert Murdoch broadened the media landscape from three players to four.”More to come.