Warner Bros. Discovery Cuts Scripted Programming Development at TBS, TNT (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

TNT and TBS are moving out of the scripted game under new parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, which under CEO David Zaslav has promised $3 billion in cost savings in the post-WarnerMedia merger era, Variety has learned exclusively.The WarnerMedia-run cable channels will no longer develop new scripted content, two sources close to the matter tell Variety.

It is unclear what will happen to TBS and TNT’s current slate of scripted programming.After ramping up their scripted programming efforts in the past decade, both TNT and TBS have significantly pared down their scripted offerings in the last few years.At TBS, the network’s only remaining scripted shows are the comedies “The Last OG,” “Miracle Workers,” “Chad,” and “American Dad.” Of those, “The Last OG” aired its fourth season in October 2021 with no word on a fifth. “Miracle Workers” aired its third season in July 2021 with a fourth season ordered in November. “Chad” aired its first season in the summer of 2021 with a second season to debut in 2022. “American Dad,” which moved to TBS from Fox in 2014, was renewed for two more seasons in December 2021.

TNT has only two scripted shows left on its roster. Those are “Animal Kingdom,” which will end after its sixth season airing in June, and “Snowpiercer.” The latter show was renewed for a fourth season ahead of its third season premiere.Warner Bros.

Discovery reported its first-quarter earnings earlier Tuesday, which focused primarily on the Q1 results of Discovery, as the combined company did not exist until earlier this month, when the $43 billion deal was closed for Discovery to purchase WarnerMedia from AT&T.