Max: The Artist Formerly Known as HBO Max

[blueharvest]

This is locked through a paywall.

What does it say?

The link is working fine for me, but here's the article without a paywall:

https://archive.is/ODOEf

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Warner Bros Discovery looks to avoid break-up with smaller asset sales

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www.ft.com

Warner Bros Discovery's senior management is looking to avoid a break-up of the company as executives race to reverse the Hollywood group's plunging share price, according to people familiar with the matter. Following a fall of almost 70 per cent in its stock price since WBD was formed in 2022, chief executive David Zaslav and chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels have recently evaluated "all options" to arrest the decline, said two people familiar with the matter. However, senior executives who carried out a detailed analysis of the consequences of a split have determined that fencing off the group's declining television channels from its streaming and studio business was not the best option at this time, according to people familiar with the discussions. The Financial Times reported last month that WBD — which owns HBO, the Warner Bros studio and CNN — was drafting a break-up plan. But while such a split initially looked "compelling on paper, it would create very significant operational challenges: doing sports rights deals, determining what goes on linear [television] or what goes on [direct to consumer streaming] and when", said a person who was involved in the deliberations. "In the best-case scenario, you'd be dealing with years of legal challenges", the person added.

A corporate break-up was viewed as the "nuclear option", said another person close to WBD's management, but they cautioned that the situation was fluid and circumstances could change. Zaslav and Wiedenfels are instead looking to offload smaller assets. They are considering offers to sell Polish broadcaster TVN or a stake in Warner's video games business, which holds valuable intellectual property to Harry Potter games, said people familiar with the matter.

 

[Drizzle]

This, this, a thousand times this.

 

[Kane52630]

Wasn't that AI?

 

[Drizzle]

Wasn't that AI?

Nope, it was real. Then it came to life and started singing and dancing down 34th Street.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Did House of the Dragon season 2 finale feel like it was missing something? Showrunner says it was due to budget (which they're saving for season 3)

Its a giant dragon battle. How much could it cost? 10 dollars?

www.thepopverse.com

Warner Bros. Discovery Says Its TV Channels Are Worth $9 Billion Less Than It Thought

Warner Bros. Discovery in its earnings says its TV assets are worth $9 billion less than it had assessed, because of weak advertising and the NBA.

www.indiewire.com

"Warner Bros. Discovery just realized its TV networks are worth $9.1 billion less than it originally thought, leading to a net loss of $10 billion in the second quarter of 2024.

The massive plummet in valuation is being recognized as a "non-cash goodwill impairment charge" primarily coming from the "Networks" section of the company. That must have been one eye-opening internal audit."

"Since Warner Bros. Discovery formed as a merged company a little over two years ago in April 2022, the company's stock has fallen nearly 70 percent. The company's stock fell another 8 percent in after hours trading and is now approaching an all-time low."

yikes

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Warner Bros. Scrubs Cartoon Network Website, Erasing Years of History

As part of a new wave of cost-cutting maneuvers, the studio wiped the official Cartoon Network site, redirect audiences to a Max sign up page.

gizmodo.com

 

[CaptainWagner]

Did House of the Dragon season 2 finale feel like it was missing something? Showrunner says it was due to budget (which they're saving for season 3)

Its a giant dragon battle. How much could it cost? 10 dollars?

www.thepopverse.com

Warner Bros. Discovery Says Its TV Channels Are Worth $9 Billion Less Than It Thought

Warner Bros. Discovery in its earnings says its TV assets are worth $9 billion less than it had assessed, because of weak advertising and the NBA.

www.indiewire.com

"Warner Bros. Discovery just realized its TV networks are worth $9.1 billion less than it originally thought, leading to a net loss of $10 billion in the second quarter of 2024.

The massive plummet in valuation is being recognized as a "non-cash goodwill impairment charge" primarily coming from the "Networks" section of the company. That must have been one eye-opening internal audit."

"Since Warner Bros. Discovery formed as a merged company a little over two years ago in April 2022, the company's stock has fallen nearly 70 percent. The company's stock fell another 8 percent in after hours trading and is now approaching an all-time low."

yikes

But watch Zaslav give himself another $10 million raise...

 

[Mani-Man]

At what point do shareholders etc band together to get Zaslav out of that company?
Every few weeks he makes a dumb decision that gets #firezaslav trending on social media.
The Image of WB is in the cellar, now they lost 10 billion dollars...how much can a guy mess up without being held accountable?

WB has some of the best IPs, they have DC...which has the two most famous comic book characters...and the company is in a freefall since Zaslav took over.
When is enough, really enough?

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

There is no strategy for growth and investors see that, whatever profit they make goes to paying the debt.

It’s a company circling the drain until somebody else (big) buys it let’s not kid ourselves. WB needs a change in direction. Discovery never was equipped to handle WB and it was a poor merger.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Warner Bros. Discovery downgraded after 'ugly' quarter

Bernstein has downgraded Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to Market Perform from Outperform, citing a "long road to recovery" after an "ugly" quarter. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Alexandra Canal joins Catalysts to dig into its latest earnings report and break down how legacy media companies are...

finance.yahoo.com

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Dips 4.5%, Continuing Q2 Earnings Fallout

The conglomerate's stock is down 42% year-to-date as Wall Street responds to Thursday's $9.1 billion write-down

www.thewrap.com

 

[Lily Adler]

There is no strategy for growth and investors see that, whatever profit they make goes to paying the debt.

It’s a company circling the drain until somebody else (big) buys it let’s not kid ourselves. WB needs a change in direction. Discovery never was equipped to handle WB and it was a poor merger.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

S&P Lowers Warner Bros. Discovery Outlook to Negative, Citing Linear TV Decline and Studio Weakness

In the second quarter of 2024, WBD reported a net loss of $10 billion, compared to a loss of $1.24 billion a year ago

www.thewrap.com

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot In Negotiations With Warner Bros. To Extend Film & TV Deal

J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot is in advanced negotiations with Warner Bros. to re-up its film and TV deal with the studio, sources tell Deadline.

deadline.com

The current five-year pact, valued at $250 million, was signed in September 2019, at the height of the Peak TV-fueled overall deal bubble, in a competitive situation. The TV marketplace is not where it used to be five years ago, with overall deals down significantly in volume and price tags after the pandemic and the strikes amid unprecedented industry contraction and strong headwinds and belt-tightening for the legacy media companies.

Deal points are still being negotiated but Bad Robot’s new deal — as well as the vast majority of mega nine-figure pacts made in 2019 — is not expected to match the terms of the old one. A number of other pacts from that crop have already been either released or converted into less expensive first-look agreements.

 

[blueharvest]

 

[Lily Adler]

So to whom do we credit the downfall of WB?

 

[blueharvest]

So to whom do we credit the downfall of WB?

Currently, I'd go with Zaslav, but I'm sure other executives are to blame, too.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

When Superman and Batman Copyrights Expire in a Decade, Will It Be Kryptonite for DC?

Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman will lose copyright protection in the 2030s, and DC is planning ahead for a world of public domain superheroes.

variety.com

The value of WBD will be less once everyone can make Superman and Batman movies and comics based on their early incarnations (nothing from later yet).

 

[DarkKnight88]

Knowing how creative people were with Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse, I see nothing but awful C-level horror versions of these characters.

 

[Lily Adler]

When Superman and Batman Copyrights Expire in a Decade, Will It Be Kryptonite for DC?

Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman will lose copyright protection in the 2030s, and DC is planning ahead for a world of public domain superheroes.

variety.com

The value of WBD will be less once everyone can make Superman and Batman movies and comics based on their early incarnations (nothing from later yet).

So many terrible fan films and horror indie games.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

It will be hard for Disney to resist putting Batman and Superman in The Avengers. They don't even need the supporting casts to make bank.

 

[Sithborg]

Knowing how creative people were with Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse, I see nothing but awful C-level horror versions of these characters.

And there are trash versions of Dracula and Frankenstein. But eventually, there will be some good creativity in there.

Now me personally, I am super excited for Tolkien to go public domain. Because **** the Tolkien estate.

 

[psylockolussus]

When Superman and Batman Copyrights Expire in a Decade, Will It Be Kryptonite for DC?

Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman will lose copyright protection in the 2030s, and DC is planning ahead for a world of public domain superheroes.

variety.com

The value of WBD will be less once everyone can make Superman and Batman movies and comics based on their early incarnations (nothing from later yet).

Hmm when they go to public domain, I would like one of the major studios to actively create a trilogy for Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman - have them in a shared universe and inbetween their solo films, are Trinity movies. If Marvel Studios could release a dozen of movies from 2008 to 2015, another studio could do it with fewer ips. Not sure when Aquaman/Flash would go to public domain, but having a movie verse with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman should sustain a dozen of movies, if people behind them knows what they are doing.

We didn't get a Wonder Woman trilogy from WB. The last actual Superman trilogy dates back to pre-90s. And its going to take a long time, maybe early 30s, for Matt Reeves to complete his Batman trilogy. So I am definitely open to Dc characters being handled by another studio in the next decade.

 

[DarkKnight88]

And there are trash versions of Dracula and Frankenstein. But eventually, there will be some good creativity in there.

But like, really. Tons more crap than good. The iconic cinematic versions of those characters were also way early in their lifeline even to this day. Not many have done anything interesting with either in a long time.

Personally, I think it cheapens things when anyone can do whatever they want. But it is what it is.