Warner Disco cuts scripted programming on TBS and TNT

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Kevin M.

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Apr 26, 2022, 10:44:59 PM4/26/22
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I guess money’s tight after the merger? 

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

Adam Bowie

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Apr 27, 2022, 8:17:47 AM4/27/22
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The new Warner Media Discovery CEO David Zaslov has told his board that he's making $3 billion in savings. Only so much of that will be centralising accounts, HR and IT or whatever. And even cancelling CNN+ probably didn't save that much since the cash will have been spent. So a whole lot of programming cuts seem inevitable. 

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Tom Wolper

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Apr 27, 2022, 12:36:11 PM4/27/22
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This is just another sign that the industry is shifting resources from cable to streaming.

M-D November

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Apr 27, 2022, 12:57:12 PM4/27/22
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There's some nuance here - they're stopping development of new scripted programming.  That wouldn't include existing programming (Snowpiercer, The Last OG, American Dad, etc.), nor would it presumably include reality/unscripted programming (Rat in the Kitchen, AEW Dynamite/Rampage, etc.) But yes, all indications are that new scripted programs would funnel through HBOMax, with a likely second run on TBS or TNT.

Mark Jeffries

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Apr 27, 2022, 2:12:30 PM4/27/22
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And technically Samantha Bee's show is considered "unscripted," because it isn't a continuous story (as are talk shows).

Mark Jeffries
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David Bruggeman

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Apr 27, 2022, 2:19:54 PM4/27/22
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I know it's not scripted, but this seems to make Conan's move to HBOMax prescient, when it was much more likely a coincidence, given how long ago that choice was made and the not-hurry they are in to produce any episodes.

David

M-D November

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Apr 27, 2022, 2:32:00 PM4/27/22
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Amending my previous comments - "The Last O.G." was cancelled this morning.

PGage

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Apr 27, 2022, 3:45:07 PM4/27/22
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So, it is about cutting costs (that $3B Zaz has promised investors). It may also be about migrating content to streaming, as the new company may want to place most of what it invests in scripted stuff into streaming.

But I think the main way to understand all of this is consolidation. The new company is not going to have 2 or 3 basic cable channels making and running mid level scripted content. They are pausing new spending as much as they can until they figure out how to streamline and reorganize what they have. I would expect a lot of cuts where there is duplication and overlap. I don’t know what contracts and other commitments allow, but I suspect they will want all premium first run movies on one platform, all premium scripted serials on one, all reruns of old television and movies, all sports, all news. They will eventually have a kind of multi channel streaming service, probably one day including HBO and a streaming version of news, plus stripped down and focused cable channels.

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