David Zaslav to Lead Combined WarnerMedia-Discovery

Robin Roberts was soaking up the sun on a boat in Florida just days ago, but her surroundings couldn't be any more different now.MORE: Robin Roberts inundated with prayers as she shares health newsFollowing a vacation with her partner Amber Laign, the Good Morning America returned home to Connecticut, where the climate is a little colder!Taking to Instagram on Sunday, the TV personality shared footage from outside in her garden, which was covered in snow.VIDEO: Robin Roberts shares rare glimpse inside Connecticut homeAlongside the clip, she wrote: "Not in Key Largo anymore! Woke up to a Winter Wonderland in CT."MORE: Robin Roberts and co-stars engage in debate that divides fansMORE: Robin Roberts convinced that she will get into trouble with partner Amber for this reasonWhile many fans were quick to comment on how beautiful it looked, others urged Robin to stay safe."Stay warm and safe," one wrote, while another commented: "Beautiful but stay warm!" A third added: "It's beautiful Robin, but I'm in Ca and I’m unhappy about the cold here. Can you imagine how cold I'd be there!"A post shared by Robin Roberts (@robinrobertsgma)Robin Roberts has returned from Florida to a very different climate! Robin returned home just in time for the Super Bowl game, which saw the Los Angeles Rams triumph over the Cincinnati Bengals.MORE: When will Robin Roberts return to GMA? Worried fans saying the same thingMORE: Robin Roberts and Amber Laign's 'Lil Man' adoption story is so sweetShe is also now back home for Valentine's Day, which she will no doubt mark with Amber.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorMirsad Purivatra has stepped down as Sarajevo Film Festival director after a 27-year run, and has been replaced by Jovan Marjanović, who was previously in charge of the festival’s industry department and the festival co-director.Purivatra, the founder of the festival, will assume the role of president of the Obala Art Centar Association, the umbrella organization behind the festival.“I am proud of everything we have accomplished over the last 27 years. We started from nothing, when our city was under siege, and today we are a globally renowned institution attended by filmmakers and film industry professionals from the region and the whole world,” Purivatra said.“We have faced many challenges on this journey.

A Scots church was "deliberately" set on fire, sparking a frantic police investigation in North Lanarkshire.

The SNP has been forced to defend controversial plans to create freeports in Scotland after they were branded a "corporate giveaway".

Staff at Dundee University have begun a 10-day strike today over ‘brutal pension cuts’.

EXCLUSIVE: Alexandra Fraser, a UK indie veteran and former Joint-CEO of Embarrassing Bodies producer Maverick TV, has joined Channel 4-backed Spirit Studios in the newly-created role of Creative and Board Advisor.

Discovery CEO David Zaslav, a week after announcing a $43 billion deal to merge with WarnerMedia in a spinoff from AT&T, sees validation in today’s news that Amazon is swallowing MGM.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorHockey great Wayne Gretzky was made an analyst for Turner Sports’ new NHL coverage, part of a quick ramp-up in talent as the WarnerMedia unit prepares to handle a new seven-year deal with the league it hopes will expand its professional-sports presence and draw new viewers to cable outlets like TNT and TBS.Gretzky is slated to offer studio analysis during key moments of the NHL regular season and throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, under terms of a new contract. Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk will call live games throughout the season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDiscovery’s CEO feels a combination of WarnerMedia and his company will create a new media company that is “uniquely competitive with Netflix and Disney,” and articulated the need to have a global footprint in the future in order to compete in the entertainment industry’s streaming wars.Discovery last week stuck a pact with AT&T to take over WarnerMedia operations in a deal that executives hope will pass regulatory muster by mid 2022.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorStephen Colbert will break free of his coronavirus-imposed restrictions and return to doing CBS’ “Late Show” in front of live audiences starting June 14.Colbert has led 205 episodes of the late-night program without an in-studio crowd, usually from his home or, in recent weeks, from a room at the Ed Sullivan Theater, which has housed the program for years. Since March 16 of last year, the host has been the anchor of what he has called “A Late Show,” a more intimate presentation of his monologues and interviews.The return will be done in adherence to New York State’s adoption of CDC guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals and has been reviewed by the state officials.

AT&T will pay Discovery a $1.77 billion breakup fee if it backs out of its deal to sell off its WarnerMedia segment, according to a Plan of Merger filed on Thursday.If Discovery backs out of the deal, it will owe AT&T a breakup fee of $720 million. The terms were disclosed in a filing on Thursday.

One day prior to its massive merger with WarnerMedia, Discovery gave its CEO David Zaslav nearly 15 million stock options, which are valued at $190 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.A representative for Discovery did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.The Journal said the 14.8 million in stock options were part of Zaslav’s new contract, which was announced on Tuesday, one day after the merger announcement. The deal runs through 2027.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaIt pays to pull off a massive media merger.Discovery chief David Zaslav is certainly being handsomely rewarded for his role in pulling off the merger agreement between his company and WarnerMedia. A day before AT&T announced it was spinning off WarnerMedia and combining it with Discovery, Zaslav received 14.8 million stock options on Sunday as part of a contract extension, which the Wall Street Journal reports are worth $190 million.

Discovery awarded CEO David Zaslav nearly 14.8 million stock options on Sunday, the day before the company unveiled plans to merge with AT&T’s WarnerMedia.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAs soon as news broke May 16 about AT&T’s proposed deal to combine WarnerMedia with Discovery, the guessing game began about what the megadeal would mean for top executives at the company.The initial takeaways: It’s a good sign for CNN boss Jeff Zucker and a bad omen for Jason Kilar, who in his one year in the job as CEO of WarnerMedia might have ruffled too many feathers as he tried to refashion the company for the streaming wars.Discovery CEO David Zaslav is set to run the new combined entity, and Kilar was not party to the deal talks, suggesting that AT&T CEO John Stankey had lost confidence in the ex-Hulu chief ’s approach and strategy after hiring him last year.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorWarnerMedia tried to put its best foot forward on Wednesday by focusing on the future of its own media assets, rather than questions about its looming spinoff from AT&T and merger with Discovery.Executives at the AT&T-owned media conglomerate put a spotlight on the company’s broad array of media outlets and talent during an upfront presentation to advertisers. The showcase, largely pre-taped, featured Leslie Odom Jr.

Discovery announced Tuesday that it’s extended the employment contract of president and CEO David Zaslav through December 31, 2027. His previous agreement ran through 2023.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDiscovery said it had extended the contract of its CEO, David Zaslav, through 2027, ensuring the executive would be in place well after the proposed merger of the company and WarnerMedia is expected to be completed in the middle of next year. Zaslav’s previous contract ran through 2023.The company, which operates Food Network , HGTV and TLC among other outlets, said Zaslav’s contract was extended as part of the agreement between AT&T and Discovery to combine WarnerMedia with the latter.Now most of Wall Street and Hollywood wants to know which executives will form the merged company’s executive team.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorDiscovery brought a vision to advertisers this year that it will be hard to duplicate in sessions to come.The owner of the TLC, Food Network and HGTV cable outlets spent Wednesday morning explaining how its networks, focused largely on reality and documentary programming, could stand through even conditions spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. Programming and advertising executives nodded to new “at home” formats devised for popular hosts like Guy Fieri and The Pioneer Woman, while articulating new shows and series that will debut in weeks to come.

Discovery, a day after announcing a landmark, $43 billion merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia, delivered its first upfront presentation in two years to tout 2021-22 programming.

As the news sank in about AT&T winding down its Hollywood foray via a $43 billion merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, one word summed up the film industry’s prevailing reaction.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorThe first swing in the talks that led to the union of Discovery and WarnerMedia was an email sent by David Zaslav to John Stankey on Feb. 13.That was around the time that the Discovery CEO and his AT&T counterpart had planned to meet for a golf date at the storied Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament in central California that is sponsored by the telecom giant, as they did last year.

Discovery chief David Zaslav, whose sizable corner of the media business is getting a lot bigger, said he had previously looked at the idea of creating a “global HBO,” but all the best series were taken.

Makan Delrahim, who as the Justice Department’s antitrust chief during Donald Trump’s administration challenged AT&T’s combination with Time Warner, has a different view of the planned spinoff of WarnerMedia.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorShares of Discovery and AT&T moved in different directions in the wake of the proposed merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery.Discovery shares opened up 10% Monday — before the stock tumbled into negative territory. The stock was down 0.3% as of 11:01 a.m.

On Friday, people left work, came home and sat down with their friends and/or family, and watched something on TV. But John Stankey, the CEO of AT&T, and David Zaslav, the Discovery CEO, were holed up in the latter’s house hammering out a multi-billion dollar deal that would forever change the face of Hollywood.

Discovery combine into a single media juggernaut was hatched during a series of meetings and calls in the Greenwich Village townhouse of Discovery chief David Zaslav.But it might never have come about were it not for Zaslav and AT&T chief John Stankey’s shared passion for golf. The two men were commiserating via text message about how, due to COVID restrictions, they weren’t going to be able to see each other in person at last winter’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

calling the network “the elephant in the room” in the administration’s opposition. The deal won approval and was ultimately completed in June 2018.AT&T announced Monday that it was spinning off WarnerMedia into an independent company that will merge with Discovery Inc.

AT&T and Discovery Monday announced a definitive agreement to combine WarnerMedia’s  premium entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery’s leading nonfiction and international entertainment and sports businesses to create a premier, standalone global entertainment company led by Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorDiscovery CEO David Zaslav is, by his own definition, a “fighter.”He’s poised to record quite a knockout if he pulls off a merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia unit in a pact that will leave him as the ultimate keeper of the keys to HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros., Turner channels and a growing global suite of direct to consumer streaming businesses.News of Discovery’s pursuit of a union with the erstwhile Time Warner assets came on so fast that executives and recent alumni of HBO, Warner Bros. et al were dizzy with surprise as word spread Sunday morning.

Like many media executives, Discovery CEO David Zaslav is not happy with Nielsen, which admitted Tuesday that it may have undercounted viewers during the pandemic.During a conversation Wednesday at MoffetNathanson’s annual media and communications summit, Zaslav blasted Nielsen’s “antiquated system of measurement,” arguing that its ratings were inaccurate even before this latest snafu.“It’s really unfortunate. We thought that maybe they were gonna get their act together, and then we found out that they think they undercounted for a year,” Zaslav said.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorNBC started broadcasting “Saturday Night Live” live across the U.S in 2017.