What Warner Bros. Discovery Looks Like on Day 1
variety.comnow officially merged WarnerMedia and Discovery will open for business as Warner Bros. Discovery Monday.While little is known about the future of the new company, it’s clear what valuable brands, IP, executives and customers they will each be bringing to the table on their first day as a combined entity.Founded in 1985, Discovery, Inc.
has approximately 11,000 staffers at time of publication. WarnerMedia, first established as Warner Bros. in 1923, has roughly 25,000 employees.For a detailed rundown of the Discovery side’s top leadership and org chart as it stands on Day 1, including CEO David Zaslav and his lieutenants, as well as its current development deals and talent partnerships, readers can consult this data, compiled via Variety Insight platform.
And here is the same for the WarnerMedia side, which accounts for several recent departures in top leadership, prompted by the close of the merger, including CEO Jason Kilar, HBO Max chief Andy Forssell, and studios and networks group chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff.As of the end of 2021, which was the last time WarnerMedia revealed streaming subscriber data, HBO and HBO Max currently have a combined 73.8 million subs.
Comparatively, Discovery reported it had 22 million — and now it has way more by acquisition. No subscriber figures have been released for newly launched CNN Plus.In terms of brands, WarnerMedia boasts crown jewels like Warner Bros., HBO, HBO Max, CNN and DC Films; while Discovery is swimming in top lifestyle channels, including HGTV, Food Network and TLC, and young streamer Discovery Plus.More specifically, they each hold valuable IP: WarnerMedia is the home of “Game of Thrones,” the DC Universe of films, the “Harry Potter” franchise, NBA and MLB games, and.
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