I put off writing about the cancellations and reorganizations going on at Warner Bros, because I was having trouble putting it into context. I don't generally follow the business side of the industry, and these big shifts have a tendency to catch me flatfooted, and the Warner-Discovery merger has been a lot to parse. The short version of what happened is that in April, AT&T divested their Warner Media subsidiary (formerly Time Warner), and they merged with Discovery Inc, becoming Warner Bros. Discovery. The new CEO is David Zaslav, who has decided that the company is wildly overspending, and is keen on finding $3 billion in savings. To do this, he's been busy axing underperforming shows, ending many projects in development, pulling older titles like "Vinyl" from HBO Max to avoid paying residuals, and even canceling the almost finished "Batgirl" movie for a purported tax write-off.
The creative community, understandably, has been in an uproar. So far, HBO Max has borne the brunt of the cuts, with a reduction of 14% of the workforce, and many of its originals canceled. A full merger of the HBO Max and Discovery streaming services is expected in 2023. International content is being reduced. The non-scripted unit is being cut entirely in favor of Discovery's existing operations. Animated and children's programming has been severely curtailed, and was the most affected by HBO Max's content purge. We haven't seen streaming services remove their original content like this before, and I'm not surprised that there was the most negative reaction over the 200 episodes of Sesame Street that disappeared along with "Infinity Train" and "The Fungies." Now, for the first time, we're seeing streaming exclusives essentially caught in media limbo - a big step away from the perpetual accessibility that the streaming age was supposed to maintain.
However, the most concerning result of the merger has only become apparent in the past few weeks, as CNN has noticeably started shifting rightwards, after decades of trying to be the neutral option between FOX News on the right, and MSNBC on the left. After the messy downfall of CNN+ and Chris Licht replacing Jeff Zucker, we're now seeing an exodus of talent, some concerning new hires, and calls for boycott. Viewers have noted an uptick in incendiary headlines and fearmongering language more commonly associated with FOX News. It's not too difficult to see sinister political motives behind all of this, but I think the simpler explanation is that cable news audiences are much older, much more conservative, and if CNN wants to boost its ratings, a shift to the right makes sense for their bottom line. The implications for the American news media ecosystem are frankly pretty frightening.
Trying to look at the big picture here, the consolidation of the major streaming services has long been expected as competition has intensified. Cracks are starting to show as the streaming ceiling has been reached, with Netflix losing subscribers and more bundling deals popping up, like Paramount and Showtime deciding to share an app and maybe merge. HBO Max has been very well regarded, in terms of content and value, and it's been making steady gains since its launch/rebranding two years ago. However, there have been some serious missteps along the way, such as the simultaneous theatrical/streaming premiere strategy during the pandemic that made everyone on the theatrical side very unhappy. This round of cost-cutting was probably overdue. However, this particular gang of execs is liable to throw the babies out with the bathwater.
It's particularly distressing because Warner Bros. is one of the biggest, oldest, most storied Hollywood media companies that is still kicking, and home to so much beloved IP. Most of the worst cuts are currently hitting HBO Max, but inevitably the rest of Warner Media is going to be affected. The CW saw eight series, including nearly all of its DC superhero shows, canceled back in May. The Turner networks, TNT and TBS, saw scripted programming development cut. The removal of so much kids and family content from HBO Max might presage more pain over at Cartoon Network and Warner Animation Group. I don't think anybody's safe, not even HBO or the theatrical businesses, in the long run.
Things are still very much in the air at the time of writing, especially regarding CNN, and I feel like I've only managed to summarize the very broadest outlines of what's going on. Expect more in the future, especially in regards to the mess we're in with the DC universe. That definitely needs its own post.
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