Gunnar Wiedenfels: Last News

In the wake of large-scale staff reductions across Warner Bros Discovery that largely tailed off earlier this year, the marketing department at Max has now also experienced layoffs.

William Earl administrator During Friday’s Q4 earnings call, David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO, said that James Gunn‘s “Superman: Legacy” will start filming next week. Gunn posted the first picture of the full cast on Instagram yesterday, writing, “After the table read with the #Superman cast.

Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels echoed recent sentiments from Netflix and other major TV and film producers, saying the industry must resolve the ongoing strikes and “get back to work.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The two Hollywood strikes that have ground TV and film productions to a standstill are bad for business — and Warner Bros. Discovery is working diligently to resolve them as quickly as possible, according to CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels. “It’s an unfortunate situation… We have to get back to work,” Wiedenfels said, speaking Thursday at the Bank of America Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference.

While Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav on this morning’s Q2 earnings call for the conglom is “hopeful that all sides will get back to the negotiating room soon and that these strikes get resolved in a way that the writers and actors feel that they are fairly compensated,” WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels served up info that there were “modest cash savings” when it came to the dual strikes.

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Discovery is set to undergo another round of layoffs in its television business.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor David Zaslav and his team could be forgiven for sounding a little stressed on Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q1 earnings call. The company’s numbers were pretty grim for a CEO who prizes his free cash flow. The Warner Bros. Discovery chief was fired up about a number of issues affecting the studio behind the shield, and he fired off verbal volleys, pop culture quotes and metaphors, invoking everything from military terminology to Formula 1 racing to “The Blues Brothers.” But the liveliest moment of the hourlong conference call with Wall Street analysts was Zaslav’s discussion of subscriber churn rates and how they differ between HBO Max and Discovery+, the two streamers that are set to be married and relaunch as a joint product dubbed Max on May 23.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery finally revealed the plans (and confirmed the long-rumored name) for its new streaming service, Max, which will combine offerings from HBO Max and Discovery+ into one product, during a splashy press presentation on the Warner Bros. Studio lot Wednesday. The event kicked off at 10 a.m. at the iconic Burbank location, presided over by WBD CEO David Zaslav, president and CEO of global streaming and games JB Perrette, HBO and HBO Max CEO and chairman Casey Bloys (who now also has oversight of Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Network), and U.S. networks group chairman and chief content officer Kathleen Finch. Variety is on the scene, ready to fill you in on all the details about the new streamer, Warner Bros. Discovery’s direct-to-consumer strategy, the future of HBO and the standalone version of Discovery+.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav’s pay package topped $39 million in 2022, down considerably from the staggering figure he hit in the year prior, thanks to a massive $203 million stock option. In a Wednesday Securities and Exchange Commission filing, WBD stated that president and CEO Zaslav’s exec comp package totaled $39.3 million last year. $3.1 million of that sum was his salary, with the rest being stock awards ($12 million), stock option awards ($1.4 million), non-equity incentive plan comp ($21.8 million) and “all other” compensation ($925,489). While Zaslav’s pay is down considerably from 2021, it’s important to note the reason behind this major dip is an unprecedented $203 million stock option grant that inflated his total 2021 compensation package to a staggering $246.6 million. (To give you a more reasonable idea of what Zaslav’s pay has been in recent years, his 2020 haul was a mere $37.7 million.)

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Never fear, genre fans: Warner Bros. Discovery is intent on mining as much of its tentpole Warner Bros. IP as possible in the near future, whether that be through its upcoming revamped DC Universe, the newly announced “The Lord of the Rings” movies, or more projects based on J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” franchise amid the success of video game “Hogwarts Legacy.” “DC is an enormous opportunity and two important building blocks are in place now with the leadership team, Peter [Safran] and James [Gunn], and James has been breathing comics for as long as he’s been alive, essentially,” Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said during a panel at Morgan Stanley’s investor conference Wednesday. “A great creative leader here. And the second building block that is in place is the one-company approach, because I think you can only manage a franchise if everything is coordinated and the team is working together extremely well. There’s an enormous level of collaboration and joint decision making around what should work hand in hand across the franchise.”

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor David Zaslav sounds tired of taking lumps. After months of cost cutting, write-downs, and getting pilloried among Hollywood natives for killing projects, the Warner Bros. Discovery chief showed off some new truculence, making the case that while his newly-merged company has been having a tough time, so too were others. “‘Last year was a year of restructuring,” said Zaslav, during a call with investors Thursday. “This year will be a year of building.” Over the course of an hour, Zasalv and Gunnar Wiedenfels, Warner’s chief financial officer, made the case that their company was just as well-equipped as any of its rivals — perhaps even more so — to withstand a stormy era during which media companies are pressed to grow their streaming operations but maintain profitability. Zaslav elbowed Netflix for releasing all of the episodes for a program’s cycle all at once; suggested that a move to launch new “Lord of the Rings” movies would take away some of the momentum that Amazon had enjoyed from its launch of a series based on the novels; and told listeners Warner Bros. Discovery could launch an ad-supported streaming service without having to buy an outside asset, as Fox Corp. and Paramount Global had. “We can create a Tubi or a Pluto without having to buy anybody,” he boasted.

Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels today predicted the company will hit $4 billion in total cost savings from the merger of Discovery and Warner Media – up from a previous commitment to hit $3.5 billion.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor As the fourth-quarter earnings cycle for Big Media closes today with Warner Bros. Discovery results after the market close, Wall Street will be eagerly looking for green shoots to confirm that the worst is truly over for the newly minted conglomerate. Warner Bros. Discovery shares have been gaining slowly but steadily since the beginning of this year as Team Zaslav hammers the point to investors that the worst of its integration and restructuring pain is behind them. WBD CEO David Zaslav has been ahead of the curve in preaching a return to the business fundamentals that have powered Hollywood for more than a half-century. Disney and Paramount Global delivered results earlier this month that came with sober warnings about streaming losses hitting a peak this year. Zaslav and WBD chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels have promised analysts that the heaviest gusher of investment in HBO Max came in 2022 and that they are now on the path to taking the streamer to the promised land — profitablity — next year.

The days of Warner Bros. Discovery cutting content for tax purposes are over, according to CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels.

The layoffs of about 30% of ad sales employees at Warner Bros Discovery started today and will likely proceed over the next few weeks.

Selome Hailu Viewership of “House of the Dragon” increased by 5% between Episodes 3 and 4, Variety has learned exclusively. Per Nielsen, linear viewing of the series remained mostly steady, with 2.536 million viewers across four cable airings for the week-ago episode compared to 2.474 million this Sunday. But with streaming on HBO Max and other HBO platforms included, Variety has confirmed overall U.S. viewership of the series is up 5% week over week. Titled “King of the Narrow Sea,” Episode 4 premiered on Sunday night as NBC was airing Week 1 of Sunday Night Football. The programs will air concurrently for the rest of Season 1’s run. Additionally, “House of the Dragon” slightly competes for linear viewership with a show on its own network: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” returned to HBO on Sunday night after two weeks off the air, shifting the timing of Episode 4’s repeat airings to later timeslots.

The surprising decision last month to shelve completed DC movie Batgirl was “blown out of proportion” by the press, according to Warner Bros Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The blowback Warner Bros. Discovery received over its cancellation of “Batgirl” was “blown out of proportion,” according to CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels. Last month came word that “Batgirl,” the $90 million Warner Bros./DC movie starring Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, would not be released theatrically, on HBO Max, or anywhere else. WBD, formed formed earlier this year by Discovery’s acquisition of WarnerMedia, determined that taking a tax write-off for “Batgirl” made more financial sense than releasing it commercially. “To me, you know, it’s blown out of proportion a little bit, in terms of the attention externally,” said Wiedenfels, speaking Thursday at the Bank of America Securities Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference, regarding the “Batgirl” decision. “The focus is, on a go-forward basis here, we’re spending more than ever in the history of the two legacy companies on content. We’re continuing to make significant investments — [but] we’ll make them differently.”

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorFive years almost to the day after it began, Hollywood’s evangelistic fervor for streaming has been extinguished this week by the “Batgirl” imbroglio. Warner Bros. Discovery’s decision to scrap the completed DC Comics film that was bound for HBO Max marks the boldest example of Old Media economic rigor being applied to contemporary content spending. David Zaslav, CEO of the newly reconfigured media conglomerate, didn’t even mask his bewilderment at the decision-making process and optimistic profit projections made by the previous WarnerMedia regime.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorWarner Bros. Discovery shares were battered Friday on the heels of its after-market second-quarter earnings report on Thursday that revealed the depth of the financial and operational pressures that the newly enlarged conglomerate is facing.WB Discovery shares were down more than 17% at midday to the $14.50 range.

Warner Bros. Discovery plans to launch its streaming service that combines the assets of HBO Max and Discovery+ next summer in the U.S., the company said during its quarterly earnings call Thursday. With a target date set, there is a lot to figure out in the coming months, including what the consolidated platform will be called.