David Zaslav Says Charter-Disney Fight Feels Like “A Moment” As WBD CEO Talks Carriage Deals, CNN & Hollywood Strikes
deadline.com“I don’t know that much in particular about this dispute, but it feels like this is a moment,” said Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav about the current showdown between big cable provider Charter and the Disney. “It’s not clear if this is a moment that gets resolved quickly — and we are back to having an industry that is in secular decline … or whether this is a more meaningful moment,” he told investors at a Goldman Sachs media conference today when asked about the story du jour that so far appears to be the latter, with Charter drawing a line in the sand.
The parent of Spectrum Cable wants to pay less for Disney content, including ESPN, in fact to restructure the entire agreement, and has said it will seek similar terms from all of its programming providers as contracts expire and the cable bundle continues to wither.
Linear networks make up about half of WBD’s revenue. Zaslav is aware and said his management is doing everthing it can, preparing for a linear meltdown ever since Warner Bros.
and Discovery merged 16 months ago. He called it a “relentless mission” to restructure “for the world we live in today.” That said, the company’s channels are reasonably priced, he believes, and, although the clock is ticking, WBD doesn’t have any carriage deals coming up for renewal until 2025.
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