The media giants Warner Bros. and Discovery have completed their merger. That means brands like HBO, HGTV, Food Network, TCM, Cartoon Network, etc. There are around 11,000 staffers at Discovery Inc., founded in 1985. Founded in 1923, WarnerMedia has around 25,000 employees. Both companies have had various changes in leadership leading up to the merger. These are two powerhouse media companies that are now stronger from the merger. As of 2021, HBO and HBO Max have 73.8 million subscribers combined. Discovery has about 22 million subscribers. Popular brands like HBO and HGTV could change significantly. Warner Bros. Discovery stock will begin trading on Monday. Due to the Warner Bros and Discovery merger makes this company one of the biggest entertainment entities in history. However, its market value still dims compared to Disney, Comcast, and Netflix.
What Does it Mean Now That Brands Like HBO and HGTV are Under the Same Company?
$52 billion in 2023 is the projected profit from the Discovery and Warner Bros. merger. That would be closer to Disney’s earnings, not including their theme parks and resorts, and higher than NBCUniversal’s 2021 earnings. Discovery has promised $3 billion in cost savings to Wall Street. Scripted film and TV projects may be normal for Warner Bros., but it’s relatively new territory for Discovery. CEO of Discovery, David Zaslav, has largely steered clear of scripted content and has openly denounced companies that invest in it. Prior to the Warner Bros. and Discovery merger, stocks for Discovery and AT&T have fallen significantly. This could mean better or worse content from the media merger. There is no clear answer to what will happen to people subscribed to Discovery+ or HBO Max. Subscribers definitely wouldn’t want their HBO or HGTV content to be cut off.
At least the true-crime content from Discovery will be merged with various content under WarnerMedia. Subscribers and viewers will have to wait and see what the combined efforts of these media companies do next.
