HBO Max cuts 14% of staff, or 70 employees, mainly in casting, acquisitions and reality TV divisions

David Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery talks to the media as he arrives at the Sun Valley Resort for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 05, 2022 in Sun Valley, Idaho.

People familiar with the matter say that Warner Bros. Discovery is eliminating 70 jobs at the division.

The job cuts are part of a larger effort at Warner Bros. Discovery to eliminate overlap as the two services come together. In April, Discovery completed its acquisition of WarnerMedia. The CEO of the company has promised $3 billion in synergies from the merger.

The people said that many of the employees who lost their jobs were members of teams that no longer fit in with the new structure of Warner Bros. Discovery. The company had a new CEO in 2020.

The new streaming service will be launched in the U.S. in the mid-2023's. The people said that the reality programming for that product will be provided by Discovery. Many of the so-called pay-one deals, in which it acquires licensed films, have been phased out by the company.

Business affairs, programming and production are among the departments affected.

The shows will not be canceled as a result of the job cuts. The job cuts are not related to the scripted series.

A spokesman for HBO Max wouldn't say anything.

When Warner Bros. Discovery is levered as much as you are, streaming is difficult.