David Zaslav
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New packages are coming, according to the Warner Bros. CEO. Discovery David Zaslav.
Speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference on Wednesday, the executive said his company has been in discussions with other companies in the content space about developing new packages to create a better “consumer experience.” These conversations have increased “in the past few months,” Zaslav said.
“You know, when we talk to consumers, they find it difficult, and so I think one of the things we’ll see when we look to the future is bundling,” Zaslav added. “Some of this disruption and some of these moments of what’s coming may activate a faster transition to things like bringing some of us in the content business together as a way to create more value and create a better consumer experience.”
He gave an example of Max’s recent experience offering content from AMC Networks for a limited time.
“That was Christine Dolan [AMC’s CEO] And J.P [Perrette, WBD’s streaming chief] We get together and say: why don’t we try this, let’s see how it goes. …Let’s see if that helps you grow your direct-to-consumer AMC product.
But the “turmoil” mentioned by Zaslav was also at the forefront of the conference’s concerns. Earlier this week, the company said ongoing strikes by writers and actors would mean a loss of up to $500 million to the company’s 2023 profits.
“If we can get a result soon, the long-term impacts will be minimized, but there are real challenges in the industry here,” Zaslav said, although he added that the company believes writers and actors should be paid “fairly” and “They get fair wages.” “Appreciated” by its corporate partners.
“We’re a content company. We’re a storytelling company. We have to do everything we can to put people back to work,” he said. “But more importantly, this is true for creators, but it’s true for all of us: people should be compensated properly.” “It’s fair, and they should feel appreciated.”
Zaslav also said he believes talent also wants to see impact for their work.
“Great writers, directors and actors want their content to be seen,” he said. “They want the opportunity to influence culture. They want the opportunity to have an impact on how people see themselves and see the world, and that’s what we have to do in this business. But only if we do it together.”
As for the ongoing dispute between Charter Spectrum and Disney, Zaslav acknowledged that “it feels like this is the moment,” but noted that the outcome of the standoff remains to be seen, and that his company doesn’t have any big deals coming up yet. 2025.
“We are on the sidelines of this,” he said. “I think we’re one of the good actors in an industry that spends a lot of money on linear because we believe in it.”
And talk about success BarbieWhich he attributed to his company’s marketing approach.
“When we said we were going to run this as one company, we meant it. Every department in this company has fallen behind Barbie“Shaq, Barkley and Ernie,” he said [Inside the NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson] We’re talking about Barbie. If you go to Sweden and you’re watching a football match, at the end of the first half the stadium turns pink and you see that Barbie. All the assets we had turned pink, indicating their strength Barbie. We had shows on HGTV, and every cake on the Food Network for a month was pink. Everywhere you went you saw that, and that’s the power of Warner Brothers.
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