Warner Takes Huge Risk by Focusing on Profit Over Users
A sweeping strategic shift is an enormous step back for consumers that could very well backfire.
The old days are over. Someone tell David Zaslav.
Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg
Reed Hastings of Netflix can relax a little. HBO Max is about to become a much less aggressive competitor in the streaming market.
That’s the implication of a sweeping strategic shift outlined Thursday evening by top executives at Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., the company formed from the combination in April of Discovery Communications and WarnerMedia, previously owned by AT&T Inc. On a call with Wall Street analysts, Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav and his lieutenants made clear they want to return the Warner business to one focused on making as much money as possible, away from the one run with a consumer-centric philosophy espoused by WarnerMedia’s previous CEO, Jason Kilar. It’s a big risk.