Advanced Television

David Zaslav

EC greenlights Discovery, WarnerMedia merger

The European Commission (EC) has granted unconditional antitrust clearance of Discovery’s proposed acquisition of AT&T’s WarnerMedia business. “Approval from the European Commission is a key milestone toward completing our proposed transaction with AT&T,” said David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery, and the future CEO of the combined company. “Today we move one […]

December 22, 2021

Discovery hits 20m paid subs in Q3

Discovery, the multichannel broadcaster, has reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30th. David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery, commented: “We made great strides in the quarter operationally, financially and creatively. The team drove solid momentum in our direct-to-consumer business, which we grew to 20 million paid subscribers at quarter end on the […]

November 3, 2021

Discovery Q2: “Ad revenue increased in every region”

Multichannel broadcaster Discovery has reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30th 2021. David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery, commented: “Discovery delivered very strong results this quarter as we executed well amidst a recovering global advertising market. Advertising revenue increased in every region of the globe and accelerated throughout the quarter, […]

August 3, 2021

‘Warner Bros. Discovery’ name for merged company

Multichannel programmer Discovery has revealed the new name of the proposed standalone global entertainment company that will emerge from the combination of WarnerMedia and Discovery assets as ‘Warner Bros. Discovery’. It suggests the Warner Bros. Discovery name will honour, celebrate and elevate the world’s most-storied creative studio in the world with the high quality, global […]

June 2, 2021

WarnerMedia, Discovery spin-off confirmed

AT&T and Discovery have confirmed an agreement to combine WarnerMedia’s  entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery’s nonfiction and international entertainment and sports businesses to create a standalone global streaming entertainment company. Under the deal AT&T will receive $43 billion [€35.45bn] (subject to adjustment) in a combination of cash, debt securities, and will own 71 […]

May 17, 2021

AT&T: Must all telco TV end in tears?

This blog replaces one about BT trying to sell its expensively fashioned TV assets. AT&T is also bailing from TV, and its entanglement with entertainment makes BT’s foray look cheap and well-managed. While AT&T keeps a big stake, the maths isn’t appetising from their stockholder’s point of view. The new company has a proforma enterprise […]

May 17, 2021

discovery+ passes 13m paying subs

Discovery has reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31st 2021. David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery, commented: “The global rollout of discovery+ is off to a fantastic start by any measure. Key metrics, including subscriber additions, customer engagement, and retention, are exceeding our expectations and demonstrating sustained momentum into the […]

April 28, 2021

discovery+ nears 12m paying subs

Discovery, the multichannel programmer, has reported financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31st 2020. Total revenues for 2020 were $10.6 billion (€8.7bn), down 4 per cent. US advertising revenues decreased 5 per cent and distribution revenues increased 4 per cent (or increased 3 per cent excluding certain non-recurring items recognised in the […]

February 22, 2021

discovery+ launching in Jan

Multichannel programmer Discovery has revealed details of its SVoD service, discovery+. Declaring the day to be “very special and historic” for the company, President and CEO David Zaslav confirmed the global launch of what it calls a “definitive” non-fiction, real-life subscription streaming service, debuting in the US on January 4th, 2021. The new service will […]

December 3, 2020By Colin Mann

Discovery pivots to D2C, slams T-Mobile

David Zaslav says Discovery’s international streaming service will be fully unveiled in December. The Discovery CEO says the service will be “differentiated” from others such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, with originals, local sport and news content among the plans. Zaslav told investors the streamer’s offering had now “come into clear focus […] We have […]

November 6, 2020