In one month’s time, David Zaslav will close the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger and formally announce the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery, officially cementing his status as one of the most powerful people in media. His coronation will mark the end of a year-long honeymoon period during which nearly all of Hollywood and New York came to kiss his ring at the Polo Lounge and in the Hamptons, and the beginning of the actual work, which includes but is not limited to: overhauling Warner Bros. to compete with Disney, growing the HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming businesses (which will eventually come together under one banner) and repositioning CNN for its Chris Licht-led straight news (and streaming-friendly lifestyle content) future—all while trying to find $3 billion in cost savings to help alleviate $30 billion of debt. Few in the industry doubt Zaslav’s acumen or his ability to meet these challenges; he was brought up under the tutelage of Jack Welch and John Malone, after all. But even his cheerleaders know he has his work cut out for him.
In the meantime, industry insiders remain preoccupied by a question: Who will serve as Zaslav’s top lieutenant in Hollywood? It turns out there will be more than one. At AT&T’s WarnerMedia, Ann Sarnoff was tasked with overseeing the entire entertainment portfolio, including Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO and HBO Max, Warner Bros. Television Group, a slew of television networks, consumer products, and so on. Zaslav, a hands-on leader with an aversion to corporate layers, will restructure the org chart to effectively get rid of that tier, sources familiar with his plans told me. Casey Bloys, the head of HBO and HBO Max, and one of the company’s most cherished executives, will report directly to Zaslav, the sources said.
Meanwhile, Zaslav is intensely focused on beefing up the Warner Bros. film division and intends to give oversight of that to a yet-to-be-named executive. It remains to be seen whether Sarnoff will continue to oversee the remaining assets, take on a new role, or leave the company. (A WarnerMedia spokesperson told me “no decisions have been made about the structure of our future company.”)
As for the yet-to-be-named executive, the list of plausible candidates is extremely short. Since the fall, I’ve been reporting that Peter Rice, an accomplished and well-respected leader, is widely seen as the top candidate for that job. Disney’s own corporate restructuring stripped away his P&L and put more power in the hands of distribution chief Kareem Daniel, leaving many to assume that Rice might be loose in the saddle. Sources close to Rice always dispute this and say he’s happy at Disney, but he may be even happier taking the helm at Warner Bros. and reporting directly to Zaslav. Then again, Zaslav’s decision to give Chris Licht the top job at CNN, without consulting the usual suspects who show up on media reporters’ shortlists, suggests he may have a more unconventional trick up his sleeve.
Speaking of Licht, news media insiders are absorbed with their own parlor game: trying to determine which on-air talents will be the face of the new, less shouty CNN—where, as Licht told staff, “NEWS,” emphasis his, will be the top priority. The vast majority of CNN’s most notable names are likely safe: Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper, Wolf Blitzer. Don Lemon, despite leaning heavily into often sanctimonious analysis during the Trump years and being a frequent target for Fox News, may be safe as well, particularly since he currently has the network’s highest-rated show and has demonstrated during the Ukraine coverage that he’s quite capable of being a serious, commentary-free anchor. Erin Burnett has also shown her dedication to hard news by being the network’s first host to go to Ukraine; others may be wise to book a ticket to the war-torn nation and prove their bona fides as well.
The more interesting question, of course, is who Licht might hire. I’m increasingly convinced, though not certain, that Brian Williams is destined to write his next chapter at CNN—not necessarily as yet another white nightly newsman alongside Anderson, Jake and Wolf, but perhaps in a role that satisfies his desire to test his skills in other formats, whether that be in the vein of a Larry King-style talk show, an Anthony Bourdain-esque travel series, or something else.
Licht may also talk to his former colleague Norah O’Donnell, the CBS Evening News anchor who has had to suffer through the abysmal mismanagement of Neeraj Khemlani—the CBS News co-head who, as you might remember, repeatedly implored Williams to take O’Donnell’s seat and refused to definitively dispel rumors that her days at the network were numbered. While not usually seen as a natural fit for cable news, her broadcast credentials may make her a logical fit for a network trying to demonstrate its commitment to capital-J journalism.
Of course, Licht’s biggest challenge won’t be the “NEWS” part, but rather programming for when there is no news—for when Russia and Ukraine aren’t at war, there’s no presidential election underway, and the biggest story of the day is a jobs report or a budget battle on Capitol Hill. In those moments, Licht will need on-air personalities and well-produced shows that provide more than wallpaper for airport terminals and hotel bars—that is, more than what CNN was before Jeff Zucker arrived.
Part of Zucker’s genius, after all, was understanding how to turn the staid medium of television news into a high-octane lifestyle and infotainment product. And, with the launch of CNN+ on March 29, CNN will be in need of a steady supply to fill its streaming platform. Indeed, that may be one area where Licht would benefit from Zucker’s counsel. I’m told by knowledgeable sources that, while the two men have not met since Zucker’s unceremonious ouster more than a month ago, they are in touch and have plans to get together.
