Warner Bros. Discovery CEO: We’ll Move Fast, Spend Wisely

David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., said the new conglomerate, which includes CNN, HBO and Warner Bros., would be moving quickly on a new vision, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday (April 26).

“We will clearly take swift and decisive actions on certain items, as you saw on CNN+ last week,” Mr. Zaslav told analysts on an earnings call Tuesday morning, per the report.

The report said this refers to the company choosing to close down CNN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service just a month after it was rolled out. Zaslav said the company would be prudent on spending in terms of its news and entertainment services.

“We are not trying to win the direct-to-consumer spending war,” he added.

The WSJ wrote that Zaslav began leading Warner Bros. Discovery earlier in the month as AT&T spun off its WarnerMedia unit, merging with Discovery in order to create a new media giant with a whole host of various studios and cable channels.

The report said Warner Bros. Discovery plans to put HBO and Discovery+ into a giant combined streaming offering, including an ad-supported platform and a commercial-free offering, though there wasn’t any confirmation on when this would go live.

Zaslav said there was a “lot of crossover appeal” between HBO shows and Discovery. According to Gunnar Wiedenfels, Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief financial officer, he plans to scrutinize content and marketing budgets at the company as part of a plan to save costs.

Last week, PYMNTS wrote that CNN+ was shutting down just a few weeks after its launch due to financial concerns.

Read more: CNN+ to Shut Down April 30, One Month Post-Launch

The report noted that CNN+ subscribers will receive prorated refunds of their subscription fees, and Andrew Morse, the executive vice president of CNN+, would also be stepping down from the company.

“As the company enters an exciting period of change, it’s clear that the vision the new leadership has for the future is different than the one we’ve had,” Morse said. “That’s OK. That’s all part of change.”