{"id":492079,"date":"2026-02-26T18:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T18:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/492079\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T18:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T18:19:10","slug":"warner-bros-discovery-leaders-look-to-future-but-avoid-sale-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/492079\/","title":{"rendered":"Warner Bros. Discovery Leaders Look to Future But Avoid Sale Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWarner Bros. Discovery<\/a> leaders David Zaslav<\/a> and JB Perrette talked up the potential of upcoming slates for Warner Bros. and HBO Max and the future of Discovery Global linear channels Thursday morning in an earnings conference call that awkwardly avoided the biggest question of hovering over the studio.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe status of WBD\u2019s M&A tug-of-war between Netflix and Paramount Skydance was not addressed, given that the WBD board is in the thick of deciding what to do about the latest offer fielded by Paramount. Many of the questions from analysts on the 40-minute Q4 earnings call dealt with specifics around the planned spinoff of Discovery Global. <\/p>\n

\n\tBut the fate of CNN, TNT, Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network et al hinges on who wins the bidding skirmish. Netflix, which has a signed acquisition agreement with WBD, will not acquire the linear channels while Paramount Skydance does hope to buy the entirety of the company. Gunnar Wiedenfels, WBD\u2019s chief financial officer who is tabbed to lead the Discovery Global spinoff as CEO, answered questions as if the spinoff is proceeding.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe valuation of the Discovery Global channels has become a sticking point in the consideration of Netflix vs. Paramount Skydance. The Discovery Global spinoff has been slated to take on a big chunk of the $33 billion in long-term debt that now sits on WBD\u2019s balance sheet. Wiedenfels asserted that the spinoff would emerge with a 3.3 debt-to-earnings ratio, which he called \u201cabsolutely sustainable and supportable.\u201d The focus from analysts on Discovery Global questions indicated that they are trying to crunch the numbers on the latest offer from Paramount while everyone watches to see if Netflix ups the ante on its $83 billion agreement to acquire Warner Bros. and HBO.<\/p>\n

\n\tREAD MORE: Warner Bros. Discovery Cuts Losses\u00a0in Q4,\u00a0Despite Box Office, TV Woes; Nears 132 Million Streaming Subs<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tZaslav, meanwhile, once again forcefully made the case for how the company has been transformed since AT&T\u2019s WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. merged in April 2022. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s been a great creative renaissance at Warner Bros., and you see it across our entire company, and you\u2019ll continue to see it,\u201d Zaslav told analysts. \u201cWhen you look at \u201927 on the motion picture side, it\u2019s stunning. It\u2019s all coming together for Warner and for HBO as well. HBO has never been stronger.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tZaslav pointed to the streak that Warner Bros. Pictures has enjoyed with nine movies in the past 14 months that have opened at No. 1 at the box office. 2025\u2019s \u201cA Minecraft Movie,\u201d \u201cSinners,\u201d \u201cWeapons\u201d and \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d are good examples of the range of franchise and prestige fare that the studio has balanced since Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy took over as film studio chiefs. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody is investing in original content and television and motion pictures the way we have,\u201d Zaslav enthused.<\/p>\n

\n\tPerrette, who oversees global streaming and gaming for WBD, noted that HBO is banking on some 10 years of Harry Potter-branded series starting next year. \u201cWe have great visibility to a strengthening content plate, which is at the core of everything we do,\u201d Perrette said. <\/p>\n

\n\tAs for WBD\u2019s gaming business, Perrette acknowledge that \u201c2025 was a year of reset\u201d after the division got \u201cdistracted going after too many IPs with too broad a set fo studios.\u201d This year, WBD is slated to release a new \u201cLego Batman\u201d game and a \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d-themed mobile game dubbed \u201cDragon Fire.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tPerrette hinted of bigger things to come next year. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe real fruits will start coming in in \u201927-\u201928 when we return to some of our biggest franchises,\u201d he said. Perrette didn\u2019t specify any titles but it\u2019s likely he was referencing the push for the studio to release a \u201cHogwarts Legacy\u201d game sequel that will coincide with the debut of HBO\u2019s Harry Potter series. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warner Bros. Discovery leaders David Zaslav and JB Perrette talked up the potential of upcoming slates for Warner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[7687,88,92,10343],"class_list":{"0":"post-492079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-david-zaslav","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-tv","11":"tag-warner-bros-discovery"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}