Discovery and WarnerMedia Merger

[quinnmac000]

Yup. 10,000 per day in daily viership numbers is laughable and regularly beat out many times over by youtubers doing content from their own home and didn’t have or need $300M to burn through.

the demographics they target don't like watching news all day compared to other news channel whose streaming service does alright thanks to their communities cultish devotion.

 

[Nick]

the demographics they target don't like watching news all day compared to other news channel whose streaming service does alright thanks to their communities cultish devotion.

That wasn't really the issue with this though. The issue is that CNN's audience is OLD (roughly around 55+ on average, I believe it might be closer to 60). All other networks have old audiences too, btw. It's been proven that there are a lot of older viewers who are very hesitant to switch to streaming. Young audiences don't watch cable news. They watch youtube or catch clips here or there for news, which is another reason this was and entirely unnecessary streaming service.

If CNN was going away on linear cable, I could see why this might have more of a use factor, but CNN is still putting out more relevant content than CNN+ ever will. So in the end who was their audience here? I'm really not quite sure.

Once Discovery+ merges with HBO Max, a CNN live section is very doable. No need for special "CNN+" crap, just give CNN's library of films and documentaries along with a tab on the side that lets you watch the linear network live, included in the subscription (similar to how Paramount plus gives access to your local CBS station).

 

[quinnmac000]

That wasn't really the issue with this though. The issue is that CNN's audience is OLD (roughly around 55+ on average, I believe it might be closer to 60). All other networks have old audiences too, btw. It's been proven that there are a lot of older viewers who are very hesitant to switch to streaming. Young audiences don't watch cable news. They watch youtube or catch clips here or there for news, which is another reason this was and entirely unnecessary streaming service.

If CNN was going away on linear cable, I could see why this might have more of a use factor, but CNN is still putting out more relevant content than CNN+ ever will. So in the end who was their audience here? I'm really not quite sure.

Once Discovery+ merges with HBO Max, a CNN live section is very doable. No need for special "CNN+" crap, just give CNN's library of films and documentaries along with a tab on the side that lets you watch the linear network live, included in the subscription (similar to how Paramount plus gives access to your local CBS station).

Fox News Demographic is also old but Fox Nation is doing well as a stand alone streaming service.

CNN is background news....not lets watch CNN all day whereas MSNBC to some extent and Fox News due to their partisan nature leads themselves to where people will anger watch all day long.

I do agree that CNN live section is doable for HBOMAX but i doubt it will have much use case as many people will turn to other things.

 

[Nico]

Its official. Figured I should bring this over here from the Aquaman thread.

Alan Horn Rejoins Warner Bros. Discovery As Consultant

Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav shored up the studio's transition team today with a veteran who knows the studio maybe better than anyone.

deadline.com

 

[Nick]

Zaslav talking about the future of DC:

“You look at Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman — these are brands that are known everywhere in the world,” Zaslav said during an earnings call Thursday. “We have done a reset. We’ve restructured the business where we are going to focus, where there is going to be a team with a 10-year plan focusing just on DC. We believe we can build a much more sustainable business.”



Other things:

 

[MrBlonde]

I don't understand why/how warner Bros is such a mess.

1. Good IP
2. Auteur-driven (pre*handwaving in the air like I just don't care*
3. One of the strongest supplemental channels in HBO

The stock has been a dog and just feels like it gets beat up whenever it goes into a big organization.

If the price keeps falling I wonder if an Apple or similar company would scoop it up and just let it be a good content mill.

 

[Nick]

 

[LieutLaww]

WB was in such a mess because management would put movies/tv shows out even if they are not really ready just to bolster the stock price for the end of that quarter as that looked good on paper or they would put a big movie straight to streaming which was then not going to make them any real money etc etc etc.

 

[Nick]

 

[Nico]

Wtf. Titans too?!?

 

[awhen]

Theatrical windows aren’t going to save this dumpster fire.

 

[Nick]

Theatrical windows aren’t going to save this dumpster fire.

Huh?

 

[awhen]

Huh?

Sorry, sounded clever at 3am.

Where under AT&T they burned a lot of bridges with talent over the pandemic theatrical release schedule, they’re doing it again now, arguably on a much larger scale, with this mass cancellation of content. I don’t think even “fully embracing theatrical” is going to help them in this regard.

 

[Nick]

 

[AlexanderMBush]

So from Borys, there is a reason why WB isn't releasing anything other than Don't Worry Darling, Black Adam, and House Party.

It's because they don't have the money to market anything else.

 

[Nick]

Did they fire their entire marketing department? How the hell do you not have enough money to market your movies? They aren't a small business that's struggling for cash. This just seems like a lame excuse so that they can save money for the rest of the fiscal quarter.

 

[belloq87]

“We don’t have enough money to release movies to make us money” is a hell of a position to take publicly.

It's ridiculous.

 

[Nick]

As far as moving Shazam though, it really just makes logical sense.

 

[belloq87]

As far as moving Shazam though, it really just makes logical sense.

That does make sense... until you look at the release schedule for next March:

- DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (3/3)
- CREED III (3/3)
- HAUNTED MANSION (3/10)
- SHAZAM (3/17)
- JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 (3/24)
- SCREAM 6 (3/31)

And SUPER MARIO BROS. comes out the week after SCREAM. That's a gauntlet. Not much breathing room for any of those.

Even with AVATAR taking up IMAX screens in December, I'd still bet that SHAZAM would have done better in that slot. But that's obviously unprovable.

 

[Nick]

That does make sense... until you look at the release schedule for next March:

- DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (3/3)
- CREED III (3/3)
- HAUNTED MANSION (3/10)
- SHAZAM (3/17)
- JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 (3/24)
- SCREAM 6 (3/31)

And SUPER MARIO BROS. comes out the week after SCREAM. That's a gauntlet. Not much breathing room for any of those.

Even with AVATAR taking up IMAX screens in December, I'd still bet that SHAZAM would have done better in that slot. But that's obviously unprovable.

Yes, but Shazam is guaranteed to hold premium format screens its opening week now. I'm highly cynical about Haunted Mansion.

Also think about it though that Aquaman 2 was originally scheduled to open in this gauntlet period of time. Aquaman 2 is a much more surefire hit than Shazam 2 so giving Aquaman the Christmas opening like it had in 2018 gives that movie more room for a long run.