Warner Media/Discovery joint venture; thoughts and discussion

OMG Kids Next Door's Latin American dub had many episodes that were LOST MEDIA. Like impossible to find. And now we find that its available again... NOT THANKS to HBO Max but a local guatemalan network. OUCH.

Did you like the show? I kinda enjoyed the first season (where it was ambiguous whether adults were really 'evil' or kids just over imagining things) and when it was a team, before Nigel became the star focus and everyone else barely mattered.

Honestly it was important his becoming the main character since it would eventually lead to his turn to villainy to exterminate all adults.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on Jan 9th 2024 at 6:27:03 AM

This got brought up in a tangent on the Diversity and Representation thread, but I think I want to address Zaslav trying to cut Turner Classic Movies.

There was a huge uproar in Hollywood about it, and a lot of it came from the fact that TCM is extremely profitable. The costs of setting it up and getting all the rights for most of the stuff it airs were paid in the 90s and it's a very well performing channel that has extremely low overhead because of that. It's like, "goose that laid the golden egg" level, with a lot of networks being visibly jealous of it at various times.

I think it highlights a lot of why Zaslav is such a bad executive, because he's seemingly incapable of actually judging things on their own merits and doesn't notice things like, say, "here's this channel that has made a consistent and good level of ad revenue for decades with very few costs" and instead just goes "but the profit isn't going up constantly". You want consistent performers because they're something to fall back on.

I think Zaslav's main reasoning was just that most of the stuff on TCM is on the older side, and in reality TV, reruns and older productions being cared about is rare.

Edited by Zendervai on Jan 10th 2024 at 8:25:21 AM

At least Spielberg and Scorsese talked him out of it. Kinda sucks they now need to personally curate it but Spielberg is pretty passionate about film preservation so I think hell do a good job.

TBH i feel like it would be best if TCM became non profit. It's an instution and a very valuable part of history of Film.

I don't... really know what that would even mean? I know Doing It for the Art is a thing but just going "I think it would be good if classic movies were all free" seems unsustainable in a lot of ways.

In theory, that's what the public domain is for.

Edited by RavenWilder on Jan 10th 2024 at 11:18:20 AM

Even then, all those films are still under cutthroat copyright laws. I very much doubt that TCM could split off from Warner Bros. (It has Turner in the name).

Edited by CanuckMcDuck1 on Jan 10th 2024 at 1:24:04 PM

Some news from Hollywood Reporter: Zazlav sold off some shares of WB for Cover Tax purposes.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/david-zaslav-sells-warner-bros-discovery-shares-1235784935/

But yikes… thank goodness for Spielberg and Scorsese.

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Jan 10th 2024 at 9:20:33 AM

Isn't it kind of strange that the higher ups are not noticing that Zaslav is writing off too many properties from Warner Bros? Wouldn't people start investigating about why so many shows and movies are being written off all of a sudden?

I'm fairly certain they notice, but do they even care?

There's also the question of even if they know about it, can they do anything or how much power Zaslav has in Warner?

A congressman has already called a investigation for possibly violating anti-trust laws.

They already have enough issues to start looking dodgy with the IRS.

And unlike Disney, they don’t have good history and standings with justice systems.

Yeah but that was almost 2 months, and it doesn't seem like much came out of that. Or at least it doesn't seem like it scared Zaslav straight.

The FTC and Do J don't provide live updates on their investigations. What would we see if much did come out of that? And if it had 'scared Zaslav straight' what would that look like? Apparently the studio is backtracking on cancelling Coyote Vs Acme and allowing the director to shop it for a distributor. That's certainly a change in a direction.

Well, who's to say the higher ups aren't noticing the write offs? Reading the article in the preceding post, it actually sounds like Zaslav is achieving at least part of what he set out to do.

Zaslav came in with a mission to (1) address WBD's massive debt load, and (2) turn a profit in streaming, and (3) put prestige films^note  At least what Zaslav considers prestige back in theaters. I don't really understand what it means to sell shares "for tax purposes," but evidently he's made some room in the finances, accomplishing (1); he's closing in on (2) a feat previously only attained by Netflix's vast subscriber base and Hulu's advertising revenue; and regarding (3), in the case of Coyote vs Acme Zaslav has finally made a concession to industry and public outcry. He probably won't change his stance on prestige film, but if he's been convinced that selling a film is more advantageous than writing it off, then something is finally getting through his decisionmaking. I dunno if it can happen again, but it's happened once.

Heartbreaking news about Coyote vs Acme: the Wrap says the studio couldn’t get an offer it wanted and now the film is probably gonna be deleted.

https://www.thewrap.com/coyote-vs-acme-update-offers-warner-bros/

Any updates on that congressman's investigation call? Might just be what we need to start Zaslav hunting season.

I uh doubt it will go anywhere. Their tax loop holes for a reason. Congress needs to first tie it up before anyone could do anything

Filmmakers need to put their feet down and refuse to meet Warner Discovery anymore. If this happened to a movie theirs could be next.

Just another reason David Zaslav needs to go.

Apparently David never saw the movie and some sources are thinking WB was never going to sell "Coyote vs. ACME" after all.

Apparently, according to this Variety article, there’s a Dakota Johnson movie WB bought a few years back. They’re still sitting on it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it got Zazlaved as well.

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/dakota-johnson-slams-nepo-baby-streaming-execs-hollywood-bleak-1235901127/

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Feb 9th 2024 at 3:06:24 PM

I didnt know but Wacky Races tears Warner Discovery A NEW ASSHOLE. It's so amazing.