Warner Bros. Discovery Splitting into 2 Companies so David Zaslav Can Focus on Ruining Movies and HBO

David Zaslav is good at two things: climbing the corporate ladder and destroying everything he touches. Now, having eroded his company so badly that shareholders voted to reject his $1-million-per-week paycheck, Zaslav has a new idea. He’s spinning off his dying TV networks and Discovery+ to a new company so he can devote himself full-time to destroying the Warner Bros. legacy.

After the split, we’ll have two separate companies.

Warner Bros. Discovery Global Networks (WBD GN)

Warner Bros. Discovery Global Networks (WBD GN) will be led by current WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels. This company will likely be sold off for parts in the coming decade. Here’s the portfolio Gunnar is stuck with:

• Discovery Channel
• Bleacher Report
• HGTV
• CNN and its upcoming streaming service
• TNT
• TLC
• Cartoon Network
• Food Network
• TBS
• Adult Swim
• Discovery+
• TNT Sports in the U.S.

Gunnar is also saddled with the “majority” of WBD’s $37 billion debt load. Congrats on the new gig, Gunnar!

This move is similar to what NBCUniversal did with the bulk of its cable channels, creating a new company called Versant.

Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming & Studios (WBD S&S)

Current WBD CEO and all-around failure David Zaslav is helping himself to the crown jewels:

• Warner Bros. movie and TV studios
• HBO
• HBO Max
• DC Studios
• TNT Sports (international)

One of the big losers in this transaction is HBO Chairman and CEO Casey Bloys. He actually does a good job, and now Zaslav will be breathing down his neck with bad ideas instead of focusing on the larger portfolio.

Why Does David Zaslav Suck at His Job?

First, let’s remember he’s only in this position because he went golfing with AT&T CEO John Stankey.

He called the goofy Ezra Miller “Flash” film “the best superhero movie (he’d) ever seen.”

Zaslav shut down CNN+ after less than a month, only to revive the idea this year.

He hired Chris Licht to run CNN. Licht’s tenure lasted an embarrassing 16 months (as illustrated in this wonderful Atlantic article). He hid in an office most CNN personnel couldn’t find. Licht demoted Don Lemon to a morning show where he had zero chemistry with his co-anchors, then fired him. Licht ran all his decisions by his personal trainer. His pet show with Gayle King and Charles Barkley lasted less than 5 months – and it aired once a week at most.

Zaslav played chicken with the NBA and lost the rights to games on TNT.

On literally every earnings call, Zaslav circles back to Superman and Harry Potter, as if those franchises are the only hope for the future.

I can tell you, the existing Harry Potter movies hold up really well, and seeing them play out in TV form over the next decade is a risky gamble. The kids they chose will go through puberty on camera. The film series got incredibly lucky that none of its stars fell into scandal over their run. Can the TV kids keep it together? The movie series had to face the death of Dumbledore actor Richard Harris – can 79-year-old John Lithgow survive to see his part through? And the biggest question: can Potter still draw an audience when the film adaptations are already so well-loved?

As for Superman, the teaser trailer left me cold. I don’t want a Superman who needs life-saving assistance from a goofy super-dog or giggly robot helpers. James Gunn makes enjoyable films, but pulling off an entire cinematic universe is a difficult feat. Even Marvel’s Kevin Feige seems to have lost his golden touch.

Does Zaslav have any other ideas? More diminishing returns from “Game of Thrones”?

I understand the desire to tuck your tail between your legs and flee to reboots and sequels. Disney CEO Bob Iger is exhibiting remarkable cowardice with his relentless live-action remakes and sequels to films that should be left alone. “Toy Story 4” is a stain on the franchise, and they’re somehow gearing up for a fifth film. Aside from “Andor,” Disney has spent 13 years mismanaging its Star Wars franchise into a dead end. Let’s not discuss the nightmare fuel of the CGI-powered “Snow White” remake.

In an era where our attention spans are shorter than ever, existing IP is often a shortcut to a built-in audience. But if the franchise isn’t carefully managed, you’ll erode the brand, alienate fans, and turn off newcomers.

DC films got pulled in all kinds of directions with the Zack Snyder-ization of Superman, the prestige psychodrama version of “Joker” and then whatever that awful sequel was, the well-received Matt Reeves “Batman” from 2022 that seems to have no clear path to a theatrical sequel, and “The Flash,” which Zaslav loved, but was terrible… and then Ezra Miller went insane. Can James Gunn rescue this? Are audiences fatigued with superhero movies and shows?

Zaslav’s Swiss cheese brain thinks you can crank out movies and HBO series with an assembly line the same way he did with his reality-show garbage channels. “90 Day Fiancé” was a hit, so Zaslav fired up the spinoff machine and then, for some insane reason, called it the “90 Day Fiancé Universe.” As if pointing a camera at regular people is somehow a monumental creative achievement. This stuff is fine as background TV while you’re making dinner. No one is going to go out of their way to binge multiple episodes.

“My 600-lb Life” is the kind of show you come up with while looking at people standing in line at Six Flags. It should not be on a TV outlet that was once called “The Learning Channel.” There are 13 seasons of this show. 152 episodes. And there are two spinoff shows. What are we even doing here?

Zaslav built this mountain of trash TV since 2006. And now he’s dumping it on his CFO.

Warner Bros. is a fabled movie studio with more than 100 years of groundbreaking entertainment. Now it’s in the hands of a man whose perverse love for sleeveless vests had him looking like this during the Max rebrand in 2023:

The only question now is how many years Zaslav can drive the terribly-named “Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming & Studios” into a ditch before the board finally throws him off a cliff with a golden parachute. My guess? He won’t be around to see the end of his beloved Harry Potter show.