Two weeks after the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, the new company’s CEO David Zaslav has revealed the streaming service will now be known as Warner Bros. Discovery, tipping the hat to the history of both parties.
Zaslav unveiled the new name and a new logo to staff (pictured), and also worked in a tagline for the new entity, borrowing the line “The stuff that dreams are made of” from the classic Warner movie The Maltese Falcon.
“Warner Bros. Discovery will aspire to be the most innovative, exciting and fun place to tell stories in the world—that is what the company will be about,” Zaslav said. “We love the new company’s name because it represents the combination of Warner Bros.’ fabled hundred year legacy of creative, authentic storytelling and taking bold risks to bring the most amazing stories to life, with Discovery’s global brand that has always stood brightly for integrity, innovation and inspiration.”
Zaslav was the CEO at Discovery and was named CEO of the new entity after AT&T crafted the merger of the two companies in a $43 million deal that cedes 71% control to the telecom giant, with the remaining 29% held by Discovery. WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, who has committed to staying on for at least one year during the transition, made a similar announcement at WarnerMedia’s own HQ.
The deal is a critical one for AT&T and its new subsidiaries as they face stiff competition by well funded companies in what has been dubbed ‘The Streaming Wars’ for dominance in the lucrative Streaming Video On Demand sector. Warner’s HBOMax service currently boasts around 17 million members with 15 million signed up for Discovery’s offerings. Together, the company adds both valuable content and a large number of subscribers to the combined streaming services under Warner Bros. Discovery.
Zaslav added that there are “so many wonderful, creative and journalistic cultures under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella, saying, “We believe it will be the best and most exciting place in the world to tell big, important and impactful stories across any genre and across any platform: film, television and streaming.”
What is still unclear is whether the merged entity will operate a single streaming service or whether they will be bundled together while retaining their separate brand identities.
For licensees and advertisers, the merger is also the harbinger of change as several hundred film and TV properties will now be run under changed management, and may have very different priorities over time. For now, the heads of WarnerMedia’s and Discovery’s advertising and marketing departments have said they will honor all previous commitments for the duration of their contracts, but both ad buyers and licensees are said to be scrambling to lock in contracts.