Discovery takes control of HBO, CNN, and Warner Bros., creating new media giant

Discovery's merger with WarnerMedia took effect on Friday afternoon, creating a streaming media giant led by CEO David Zaslav.

The deal combines two treasure troves of content and foreshadows further changes in the streaming era.The newly formed company, Warner Bros. Discovery, will begin publicly trading on Monday. Zaslav said he will hold a town hall event for employees of the combined company later in the week.

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Full Source – CNN

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With the deal complete, Discovery assumes $55 billion in debt, a sum that the company will be under pressure to begin paying down immediately. Discovery has also vowed to find $3 billion worth of savings between the two companies, which will almost certainly wind up in layoffs, particularly for overlapping business functions.

And Discovery, which has a long tradition of making low-cost nonfiction programming, has indicated that it will not necessarily spend at the breakneck pace that has become de rigueur in entertainment.

“We plan on being careful and judicious,” Mr. Zaslav told investors in February. “Our goal is to compete with the leading streaming services, not to win the spending war.”

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Full Source (The New York Times – has paywall)