The start-up, Warner Bros. Discovery will start public trading on Monday. Zaslav said he would hold an event at town hall for the combined company’s employees later in the week. “I am confident that our collective energy and genuine love for these businesses and brands will create the most dynamic media and entertainment company in the world,” Zaslav said in a note to employees on Friday afternoon. Zaslav said Warner Bros. Discovery “can promote high quality content creation, create more opportunities for underrepresented storytellers and freelance creators, and serve clients with more innovative video experiences and engagement spots.” The deal, first announced last May, is a milestone for Zaslav and his longtime deputies at Discovery, best known for brands such as Animal Planet, TLC and HGTV. The merger adds HBO, CNN, TNT, Turner Sports, the Warner Bros. movie studio and a myriad of other media to the company. Preparing the stage to compete with companies such as Disney and Netflix, Zaslav said in a note on Friday that “we are in a good position to become a leading streaming competitor.” He confirmed that the main streaming services from all sides of the company, HBO Max and Discovery +, will be integrated “into a single product in the future”. The merger brings Zaslav to the forefront of the media industry, controlling everything from a legendary film studio to a global news network. As Rich Greenfield, LightShed Partners’ leading media analyst, told CNN Business, “David can really beat Goliath!” Greenfield said: “Zaslav and the team are in a position that was unthinkable two years ago – sitting near the top of Hollywood.” Shareholders of AT&T (T), which spun off from WarnerMedia earlier this week, hold 71% of the new company and Discovery shareholders hold 29%. But the deal represents a reversal of AT&T’s previous plan to become media heavy. With Friday’s deal closing on Wall Street, AT&T has officially restored its Time Warner acquisition in 2018 and refocused on its core business. AT&T CEO John Stankey said goodbye to the media company in a candid note to staff on Friday. “Getting to this moment was one of the most difficult decisions of my life,” he wrote. “I’m sure you’re not surprised that it came with a lot of anxiety, frustration and worry about the changes it would bring. Given all this, I’m sure we’ve come on the right track.” “Over time,” Stankey wrote, “the combination of WarnerMedia and Discovery will bring a stronger company to the forefront and accelerate the already strong pace of innovation and change you have created.” Warner Bros. Discovery expects $ 3 billion in what companies often call “synergies,” which means the combination will almost certainly result in layoffs. Already, many of Warner’s top executives have left the company, including WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, whose last day was Friday. Zaslav wrote in an internal note on Thursday that “we are creating a simpler organizational structure with fewer levels, more responsibility and more resources focused on the screen.” Discovery executive Bruce Campbell will oversee all revenue for the new company. JB Perrette will run global streaming and interactive entertainment. Kathleen Finch will oversee all cable networks except CNN and HBO. CNN will operate separately, with Chris Licht becoming president and CEO of CNN Global. Everyone will mention Zaslav. Three key WarnerMedia executives will also be reporting directly to Zaslav: HBO Content Director Casey Bloys. The president of Warner Bros. Television Group, Channing Dungey. and the president of Warner Bros. Picture Group, Toby Emmerich.
