David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, is trying to squash rumors that he wants to sell the company to a cable company. According to a report from Deadline, he told employees during a call on Wednesday that the company was not for sale.
The recent report from The Hollywood Reporter seems to be the target of his comments. The outlet said that top industry executives were convinced that Warner Bros. was on the verge of merging with other companies. The person was mourning the loss of another studio after Disney bought 21st Century Fox.
There are rumors that the company may be looking for a buyer. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the search for someone to lead its 10-year DC plan hasn't been very fruitful, it has a lot of debt, and there have been layoffs.
There are baffling decisions to cancel a finished Batgirl movie and pull content from its flagship streaming service. John Oliver jokes about how he got the sense that Warner Bros. was burning down my network for the insurance money.
It has been a rough few months since the mega-merger. Alex Cranz points out in an excellent post that Zaslav's goal is not for Warner Bros. Discovery to win the streaming wars. He wants to make as much money as possible, but he needs to invest less. It is understandable that people would want to make a quick buck by packaging up a bunch of services and intellectual property into a sort of purchase for another media corporation, but it is not likely that Zaslav is doing the same thing. It is not certain that he is.
It is possible that the statement is a chess move to get a big offer, but that is not likely to me. He told workers that the company has everything it needs to become the biggest entertainment media company in the world. Things may look bad for the company's customers, but why sell when you're getting your business right?
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