Warner Bros. Discovery

[Medianext.MX]

Warner Bros. Discovery's new logo and brand identity was designed by Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv. They were really quick enough to publish a case study.

https://www.cghnyc.com/work/project/wbd-private

[JAS84]

I hope they didn't pay much, considering the new logo is just the WB shield next to some text. They didn't even incorporate Discovery's D globe logo.

[gottago]

They're closing CNN+ already! A month in service, faster than Quibi by quite some distance. It always seemed like an odd service to launch but I wasn't expecting to be such a failure. I read somewhere else that it only managed to attract 150,000 subscribers.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/a...um=twitter

[Internationalman]

I hope they didn't pay much, considering the new logo is just the WB shield next to some text. They didn't even incorporate Discovery's D globe logo.

Simply put, WBD wanted to emphasize Warner Bros. more. I think it is fine, really.

[chaose]

the new logo is just the WB shield next to some text. They didn't even incorporate Discovery's D globe logo.

I'm glad they didn't. Simply smashing two old logos together rarely results in something good. I think they've made the right decision in using the WB shield, as it is very iconic, certainly more so than the D globe.

[LivefromORL]

With Warner Bros. Discovery shutting down CNN+ and wanting to restore CNN to a reputable news brand, I’m curious to see if WBD will do anything with their sport brands. They’ve got Turner Sports, NBA on TNT, NHL on TNT, NBA TV, Bleacher Report, and the CNN Sport/World Sport shows among others.

ESPN+ and Peacock both have live sports. Adding live sports to the new Discovery/HBO Max combined streaming service could give WBD a competitive edge and bring in a market they already have a foothold in.

[Medianext.MX]

With Warner Bros. Discovery shutting down CNN+ and wanting to restore CNN to a reputable news brand, I’m curious to see if WBD will do anything with their sport brands. They’ve got Turner Sports, NBA on TNT, NHL on TNT, NBA TV, Bleacher Report, and the CNN Sport/World Sport shows among others.

Not only that brand. You've got Discovery holdover Eurosport, and TNT Sports, which is the overarching brand for their Latin American sports rights, including local rights to the Argentinian and Chilean football leagues (which are broadcast on 24/7 linear channels branded under that name) and rights to the Champions League and Super Cup in Mexico and Brazil (which are broadcast on their existing entertainment channels, more on that later).

I was thinking Turner Sports should remain as it is, but, with the jumbled mess of brands elsewhere (Eurosport vs. TNT Sports), their International sports brands should be unified under the Eurosport brand, given it has had some degree of success in India (where it launched as an alternative to the cricket-laden sports channels in that country, gaining a following there) and Australia (where it had also its audience, but closed in 2020 after a carriage dispute between Fetch, the only operator who carried the channel, superseding Foxtel earlier that year). There are some concerns about how the brand could be applied, as Eurosport is still considered a "niche" brand there, even if the Olympics and adding higher profile rights in selected regions Europe-wide have made the brand upmarket; in contrast, TNT Sports only broadcasts football in the four markets it operates. On a side note, however, Discovery Turbo Latin America broadcasts highlights of some Eurosport motorsport rights, including their European Rally Championship global rights.

ESPN+ and Peacock both have live sports. Adding live sports to the new Discovery/HBO Max combined streaming service could give WBD a competitive edge and bring in a market they already have a foothold in.

HBO Max has already live sports, but not in the US, nor Europe, but in Latin America, specifically, in Mexico and Brazil, where they have the rights to UEFA Champions League and the Super Cup. They are emphasizing that all matches are exclusive to HBO Max, with between 50 and 70 of them broadcast on their three core channels: the local versions of TNT, the Mexico feed of Cinemax (where it is a basic channel airing Spanish-dubbed Hollywood films with many commercial interruptions) and the Brazilian feed of Space.

In fact, HBO Max has already some sports rights in the US, those of the NHL on TNT; however, they are still emphasizing coverage on linear TV, but broadcasting some exclusive games on the platform in the future isn't ruled out. Additionally, Turner Sports took on the rights for all U.S. friendlies and World Cup qualifier matches at home, superseding CBS/Paramount+. The deal, for eight years, will involve that half of the matches will be exclusive to the platform.

[RR]

One of the issues with sports rights is that they tend to be localized - so break up any chance of a more global service. That may not affect some of the US streamers, but will restrict them elsewhere. An example is Apple - they can pick up Baseball rights cheaply for Europe, but that will get few subscriptions, and their games are on in the middle of the night. Amazon have picked up various sports but on a country by country basis.

[XIII]

Amazon did well picking up tennis rights because tennis is quite a global sport whereas football while very popular in most countries doesn't fare well in some of the bigger markets like the USA and Australia.

[LivefromORL]

Thanks for the additional context @medianext.mx. Had no idea HBO Max has sports rights. @RR you bring up a good point about localized sports; however, I think people are ready for a change. It's 2022 and supporters still have to navigate multiple channels, subscriptions, and blackouts to watch their teams play. I think people are ready to see something different. I don't know if WBD has any interest in growing their sports reputation but they've enough under their wing to make a play.

[RR]

Amazon did well picking up tennis rights because tennis is quite a global sport whereas football while very popular in most countries doesn't fare well in some of the bigger markets like the USA and Australia.

But tennis is an example of what I was attempting to say. Amazon have the ATP UK and Irish rights only. Sky have the main rights in Italy and Germany. Canal+ and Eurosport have them in France. It is a similar story for the WTA. Either the streaming services run different services per country, which Amazon are happy to do, or they don't have meaningful sport.

[Brekkie]

The commissioning of original scripted programming on TBS and TNT has been suspended.

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/tnt-tbs...235241348/

[Stuart]

Despite my long standing interest in Pres and the media world in general, I am now losing track of "who owns who, and what streaming services they have".

Am I alone in my confusion, or should I just be paying more attention?

[Medianext.MX]

WBD's second executive restructuring is well underway:

• Kathleen Finch has fired Brett Weitz and Tom Ascheim from the Turner networks and the Family and Kids networks, respectively; as a result, Nancy Daniels will now oversee the Turner entertainment networks (alongside Discovery's US factual and reality channels); whilst the Family and Kids networks and divisions are being reorganized: Ascheim is being replaced by Michael Ouweleen, reporting to Finch and Amy Friedman; whilst Turner Classic Movies will be spun-off from the division, with Pola Changnon reporting directly to Finch. Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios will move to Warner Bros. Television oversight, with Sam Register reporting to Channing Dungey.
  
• Additionally, all Communications/PR, Marketing, and Content Strategy/Scheduling work for the US networks has been centralized, with the new executives, Audrey Adlam, Karen Bronzo and Julie Taylor, overseeing all work from each networks' offices.
  
• Globally, WarnerMedia EMEA's Priya Dogra is staying on her job in the new company, but now taking over Discovery's operations in the UK and the Nordics. James Gibbons will stay on his post as Discovery UK and Nordics director for a while before passing the baton to Dogra, with Gibbons overseeing Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Additionally, Kasia Kieli, who led the CEEMEA operations for Discovery, is moving to Grupa TVN. The biggest news: Whit Richardson, WarnerMedia Latin America CEO, has been fired, and operations in Latin America (including US Hispanic networks) will be led by Discovery Brasil's Fernando Medin; as a result, WarnerMedia's Latin American operation, based in Argentina, will be wound down and most operations will move to Miami and São Paulo.
  
• Anil Jhingan, Discovery Asia's CEO, is being promoted to Global Business Development, reporting to Bruce Campbell. Clement Schwebig takes over South East Asia, Korea and India, Gillian Zhao becomes China WM President and Andrew Georgiou continues as President & Managing Director of Eurosport and GOLFTV. Robert Blair will still lead licensing and Ronald Goes remains EVP and Head of International TV Production leading the International WB Production business.
  
• Finally, all the GMs of HBO Max's international operations have been fired, replaced by Discovery+ staff. Brad Wilson, Johannes Larcher and Luis Durán have been replaced by Michael Bishara, Leah Hooper and Juan Sola; additionally, Jason Monteiro has been hired to oversee HBO Max's expansion into Asia, with South Korea already in the map for launch in the Summer. Bishara will also lead the Digital Studios Group, and Meredith Gertler will lead Content Strategy, Scheduling, and Editorial/Merchandising. Alex Wellen continues to lead the Motor Trend Group.
  

And today, Warner Bros. Discovery is trying to position as a "fifth broadcast network" during its upfront, an upfront laden with a surprise appearance from Jennifer Hudson:

https://deadline.com/2022/05/warner-bros...235026968/

https://deadline.com/2022/05/jennifer-hu...235026985/

[Rdd]

That “fifth broadcast network” statement is interesting considering the actual fifth broadcast network, The CW, of course 50% owned by WBD (for the moment), has just axed a huge percentage of its shows (a lot of them produced or distributed by WBD) and, in one of the worst kept secrets in television, is essentially for sale at the moment. The move of scripted content to streaming is gathering apace and it looks like The CW, which doesn’t do news or sport (the two areas linear is still strongest) will be the first casualty.