Warner Bros. Discovery Commence With Company Layoffs in Streaming Marketing Division
By Movieguide® Staff
Warner Bros. Discovery has moved forward with company-wide layoffs as they look to find a way to stay competitive in the growing streaming market.
Deadline reported:
Deadline understands that WBD Streaming Marketing, which promotes its shows across its digital platforms, is the latest division to be hit.
WBD confirmed the cuts were happening today but did not disclose how many positions were being eliminated.
It comes after Warner Bros. Television was hit by layoffs yesterday with some 26% of its workforce cut, a total of 125 positions. HBO and HBO Max laid off 14% of staff in August and some 30% of its ad sales operations were affected last month. Other areas such as IT operations are also understood to be affected.
Warner Bros. said that the layoffs were in conjunction with their efforts to make $3B in savings following their merger with Discovery.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Discovery announced Friday that their stockholders have approved their merger with WarnerMedia to create Warner Bros. Discovery.
The new company will combine WarnerMedia’s entertainment, sports, and news content with Discovery’s nonfiction, international entertainment, and sports businesses.
According to Deadline, the Warner Bros. Discovery merger won’t be finalized until April, but this announcement means the two companies can now start discussions about management structure and the organization of the businesses.
They will also figure out how this merger will affect the two companies’ streaming services, like CNN+, which will launch March 29.
The $43 million merger will create a huge new player in the entertainment world, with 200,000 hours of programming and 100+ channels, including HBO, Warner Bros., Discovery, DC, CNN, WB Games, Turner Sports, Cartoon Network, HGTV, Food Network, TNT, TBS, Turner Classic Movies, Wizarding World, Adult Swim, Eurosport, Magnolia, TLC, Animal Planet, and ID.
Read More: Discovery+ Adds Mature Content as Streamers Battle for Subscribers
