Endeavor Chief Ari Emanuel “Not Nervous” That Warner Bros Discovery Could Pump Brakes In Streaming: “Everyone Else Is Spending”

deadline.com:

Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, who has long espoused the benefits of streaming’s boom times, said he’s “not nervous” about Warner Bros Discovery possibly pumping the brakes as it looks to take on Netflix and Disney.Discovery chief David Zaslav, as Emanuel was reminded during Endeavor’s fourth-quarter earnings call, recently declared the company doesn’t want to “win the spending war” in streaming.

That line, amplified by Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels this week at an investor conference, prompted a lot of head-nods among those on Wall Street who view streaming as a hugely expensive, risky business.“I’m not really nervous if he says he doesn’t want to spend,” Emanuel said of his friend Zaslav. “Everyone else is spending.

And again, look, there are seven, eight players in the marketplace.”While Endeavor is known for owning WME, its portfolio is a diversified one, spanning sports, events, technology and other areas.

Even so, Emanuel, a former longtime agent, wasn’t shy about characterizing streaming as a big tailwind for the company.Total spending on programming across all platforms is expected to hit $140 billion this year, the CEO noted, in large part due to the push into streaming.