Warner Bros Discovery
Profits Slump at CNN as Ratings Plummet
One of the first moves the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery made when it took over CNN was shutting down CNN+, the nascent streaming service that was touted as the network’s bridge to the future. The next month, when Chris Licht took over as CNN’s chairman, he told employees in his first town hall meeting […]
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Why You Can’t Watch LIV Golf on American Television
For the Saudi-backed upstart LIV Golf tour, the strategy for luring top golfers like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson away from the prestige and stability of the PGA Tour was simple: Offer cash, and lots of it. The arrival of the new tour and the defection of PGA Tour stars were major disruptions in what […]
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CNN Enters the Post-Jeff Zucker Era. Bye-Bye ‘Breaking News’ Banners.
CNN’s ubiquitous “Breaking News” banner is gone, now reserved for instances of truly urgent events. Snarky on-screen captions — “Angry Trump Turns Briefing Into Propaganda Session,” for instance — are discouraged. Political shows are trying to book more conservative voices, and producers have been urged to ignore Twitter backlash from the far right and the […]
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Inside the Implosion of CNN+
David Zaslav had been chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery for all of a few hours when he learned he had a problem. On April 11, the day his newly merged company began trading on Nasdaq, Mr. Zaslav greeted New York employees with pasta and ice cream bars, delivering an impromptu rallying cry to his […]
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CNN+ Streaming Service Will Shut Down Weeks After Its Start
Executives at Discovery, wary of antitrust rules, were constrained from advising their counterparts at CNN until the merger was done. CNN+ had lost its champion when Mr. Zucker left in February because of an undisclosed romantic relationship with a colleague. But Jason Kilar, the WarnerMedia chief executive, forged ahead anyway, launching the streaming platform on […]
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New Era Begins at Warner Bros., Back Toward Its Entertainment Roots
“Success is about creative talent, in front of the screen, and behind the screen, and fighting and fighting to create a culture that supports that creative vision,” Mr. Zaslav said when announcing the takeover. For much of the past year, he has rhapsodized about the studio’s rich legacy, repeatedly paying tribute to Jack, Harry, Sam […]
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