Warner Bros. Discovery

• 1. Made of Dreams

  ›

  Warner Bros. Discovery announced its name on the 1st of June 2021, alongside a borrowed tagline: "The stuff that dreams are made of." The phrase came from the 1941 Warner Bros. film The Maltese Falcon, which itself paraphrased Shakespeare's The Tempest. The announcement came just two weeks after AT&T first revealed its plan to exit the media business. AT&T was to spin off its WarnerMedia subsidiary and merge it with Discovery, Inc. AT&T would receive $43 billion in cash and debt in return. The merged company pledged to spend $20 billion annually on content. It aimed to reach 400 million global streaming subscribers. After clearing antitrust review on three continents, the deal formally closed on the 8th of April 2022. The company that emerged combined brands spanning cable news, premium television, theatrical films, and documentary programming. What its leadership would do with that inheritance, and whether the combined enterprise could hold together, remained entirely open questions on the morning it opened for business.

• 2. Deep Roots

  ›

  Warner Bros. was founded on the 4th of April 1923, in Hollywood, by four brothers: Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner. The studio built itself into one of the "Big Five" American film studios and a member of the Motion Picture Association. Ted Turner founded Turner Broadcasting System in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1965. A company called Kinney National Company formed the following year and eventually reincorporated as Warner Communications in 1972.

  In 1979, Warner Communications formed a joint venture with credit card company American Express. American Express acquired a 50% stake in Warner Communications' cable television holdings for $175 million. That venture owned MTV, Nickelodeon, The Movie Channel, and VH1. Warner Communications bought back American Express's half in 1984 and sold the venture a year later to the original iteration of Viacom. Viacom renamed it MTV Networks, now known as Paramount Media Networks. Warner Communications merged with Time Inc. in 1990 to create Time Warner.

  Time Warner absorbed Turner Broadcasting System in 1996, pulling CNN, TBS, and TNT into its ownership. A 2001 merger with America Online formed AOL Time Warner, a combination that proved disastrous. The AOL name was dropped and the company reverted to Time Warner in 2003. Separately, a Cable Education Network founded in 1982 had launched The Discovery Channel three years later. That entity was renamed Discovery Communications in 1994. Discovery Communications acquired Scripps Networks Interactive in 2018, bringing HGTV and Food Network into its portfolio. Scripps Networks Interactive had been spun off from E. W. Scripps Company's cable division in 2008. AT&T's 2019 reorganization had effectively broken up Turner Broadcasting System, scattering its assets across Warner's new business divisions.

• 3. The Deal Gets Done

  ›

  Discovery's CEO, David Zaslav, was named to lead the combined company before the merger had formally closed. The deal was structured as a Reverse Morris Trust. Under that arrangement, AT&T's shareholders would receive a 71% interest in the new company and appoint seven board members. Discovery's shareholders would receive 29% and appoint six board members.

  The European Commission approved the transaction on the 22nd of December 2021. Brazil's antitrust regulator, Cade, followed on the 7th of February 2022. The United States Department of Justice approved the deal two days later. Discovery's shareholders voted in favor on the 11th of March 2022. Trading in Warner Bros. Discovery shares began on Nasdaq on the 11th of April 2022. The company's final logo, designed by Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv, featured a new rendering of Warner Bros.' long-standing shield.

  Zaslav addressed employees at a town hall hosted by Oprah Winfrey. He told them the company needed "one culture" where people felt "safe" and "valued for who they are." Among the executives retained from WarnerMedia were film and television heads Toby Emmerich and Channing Dungey, along with HBO's chief content officer Casey Bloys. Most senior roles went to Discovery counterparts. Gunnar Wiedenfels became chief financial officer, JB Perrette led global streaming, and Kathleen Finch oversaw most U.S. linear networks. CNN's outgoing head Jeff Zucker was replaced by Chris Licht. Zaslav publicly committed to $3 billion in cost savings, largely through consolidating redundant operations. On the 27th of April 2022, Zaslav purchased approximately $1 million worth of WBD stock.

• 4. The Cutting Season

  ›

  CNN+, a streaming service that had launched just two weeks before Warner Bros. Discovery began operations, was shut down on the 21st of April 2022. Chris Licht and JB Perrette announced the closure, citing its incompatibility with the goal of a single unified streaming platform. Scripted development at TBS and TNT was suspended while the company evaluated its strategy.

  In the second quarter of 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery reported $9.8 billion in revenue and a net loss of $2.2 billion. The company took $825 million in write-offs on what it called "content impairments and development." On the 3rd of August, it cancelled Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt. Both were nearly completed films removed as tax write-offs rather than released. Zaslav argued that direct-to-streaming films lacked the economic impact of theatrical releases, and the company abandoned new direct-to-streaming film production for HBO Max entirely. He also described a "10-year plan" for DC Films modeled on the approach of Marvel Studios. HBO reorganized on the 15th of August 2022, dismantling most of HBO Max's autonomous units. Suzanna Makkos, HBO Max's head of comedy, began reporting to HBO's head of comedy Amy Gravitt. Layoffs followed across HBO Max's non-scripted, live-action family, international originals, and casting teams.

  On the 11th of October 2022, Warner Bros. Television Group laid off 82 employees and eliminated 43 vacant positions. Warner Horizon and Telepictures had their creative operations consolidated. Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros. Animation merged their development and production teams, while both retained separate labels. On the 1st of June 2022, film division head Toby Emmerich had announced his departure to start a new studio. Warner Bros. Pictures agreed to fund and distribute that studio exclusively for five years. Former MGM executives Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy became co-chairs of Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. In September 2022, a proposed class-action lawsuit alleged that WarnerMedia had overstated HBO Max's subscriber count by at least 10 million. The suit claimed the company had counted inactivated subscriptions bundled with AT&T services.

  James Gunn and producer Peter Safran were named co-CEOs and co-chairs of DC Studios in October 2022. The unit had previously operated under the name DC Films. They signed a four-year deal and reported directly to Zaslav. Gunn oversaw creative development; Safran handled the business side. The unified streaming service that succeeded HBO Max, named Max, was unveiled on the 12th of April 2023.

• 5. Losing Ground

  ›

  Turner Classic Movies became an unexpected flashpoint in the summer of 2023. Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to lay off multiple TCM executives, including Pola Changnon, who had been with Turner for more than 25 years. The company planned to place the channel under the oversight of Cartoon Network head Michael Ouweleen. Three prominent directors, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Paul Thomas Anderson, met personally with Zaslav to advocate for TCM. On the 23rd of June 2023, WBD reversed course. TCM would move under Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. Both pledged to keep its programming "untouched and protected."

  On the 24th of July 2024, the NBA announced new broadcast rights agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal, and Amazon Prime Video. Those deals were to begin with the 2025-26 season and ended a nearly 36-year association between the NBA and TNT. WBD had attempted to invoke a matching right in its existing contract, targeting the package sold to Amazon. The NBA rejected that claim. WBD threatened legal action, accusing the league of having "grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights." In August 2024, WBD reported a $10 billion loss in the second quarter of 2024. The loss reflected continued losses from its direct-to-consumer segment and the devaluation of its linear television assets. CNN CEO Mark Thompson announced 100 layoffs in July 2024.

  A settlement with the NBA gave TNT Sports continued highlight access through Bleacher Report and House of Highlights. The settlement also included international rights in selected markets. TNT Sports received a Big 12 Conference basketball and football sublicense from ESPN. The studio program Inside the NBA would continue airing on ESPN and ABC, produced by TNT Sports with its existing on-air personalities. In July 2025, WBD announced it would sell its New Zealand television operations, Three and ThreeNow, to local competitor Sky Network Television for $1.

• 6. A Hundred Billion Dollars

  ›

  On the 18th of July 2024, the Financial Times reported that Zaslav and other WBD executives had been discussing breaking up the company. The idea was to separate the unprofitable linear television networks from the more profitable studio and streaming businesses. On the 12th of December 2024, WBD announced a formal reorganization into two units: Streaming & Studios and Global Linear Networks. Plans to spin the two off as entirely separate companies were officially announced on the 9th of June 2025. On the 28th of July 2025, the two successors were named: Warner Bros. and Discovery Global.

  On the 11th of September 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount Skydance was exploring a bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in its entirety. Paramount Skydance was led by David Ellison. It had been formed through the acquisition of Paramount Global and its parent company, National Amusements, by Skydance Media. WBD's share price rose 33% on the news. Robert Fishman of MoffettNathanson described the move as a strategy to consolidate streaming and studio businesses during "a period of industry-wide instability." Senator Elizabeth Warren publicly criticized the prospective deal as a "dangerous concentration of power."

  On the 19th of September 2025, reports indicated that Paramount's bid could reach $22 to $24 per share in an all-cash offer. Reports from the previous day had indicated that Netflix was also exploring a bid. Paramount Skydance made three unsuccessful offers, at $19, $22, and $23.50 per share. WBD rejected them all; Zaslav was reported to be seeking approximately $30 per share. Apple's Eddy Cue dismissed speculation that Apple would bid, on the 14th of October 2025. Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters stated on the 8th of October that a Netflix bid was unlikely. He said: "We come from a deep heritage of being builders rather than buyers." Sony Group CEO Hiroki Totoki ruled out a deal on the 23rd and the 24th of October 2025.

  On the 20th of November 2025, Paramount Skydance, Netflix, and Comcast each submitted formal bids. Netflix bid for studio and streaming assets only; Paramount bid for the full company. Netflix won the bidding process on the 4th of December 2025 and entered exclusive deal talks. On the 5th of December, Netflix announced an offer of $72 billion for the Warner Bros. streaming and studios company. The deal valued all of WBD at $82.7 billion. On the 8th of December, Paramount Skydance launched a hostile all-cash bid of $108.4 billion, at $30 per share. WBD told shareholders on the 17th of December to reject Paramount's bid and proceed with the Netflix transaction.

  Paramount Skydance amended its offer on the 10th of February 2026. It added a fee of 25 cents per share per quarter, equaling approximately $650 million each quarter the deal remained unclosed. Paramount also agreed to cover the breakup fee WBD would owe Netflix if it switched deals. On the 26th of February 2026, WBD confirmed that Paramount's updated offer was superior to Netflix's current proposal. Netflix declined to improve its bid, stating the deal was "no longer financially attractive." On the 27th of February 2026, Paramount Skydance confirmed it had agreed to acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery for $110 billion. WBD shareholders approved the sale on the 23rd of April 2026. They also voted to reject a proposed golden parachute for Zaslav and other executives.

  On the 13th of May 2026, Ryan Gould and Robert Voltaggio opened the company's annual upfront presentation by acknowledging the Paramount deal. Anderson Cooper delivered a tribute to Ted Turner, founder of CNN, Turner Broadcasting, and Turner Classic Movies. Turner's properties, after passing through four decades of mergers and ownership changes, were now part of a company itself awaiting a new owner.