Underway writers strike It threatens the long-term strategic plans of major entertainment companies, some of which are reportedly happy the strike will give them an opportunity to cut costs, but Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav says he doesn’t share that point.of the view.
When pressed by CNBC co-host Joe Kernen on Friday morning about potential cost savings, he said:
“You see, we are a pure storytelling company, and we have fought for the best creatives to work at Warner Bros.,” Zaslav said. “It takes great writers to create great storytelling, the entire industry needs to work together, and everyone needs to be paid fairly. So our number one focus is solving this. Make sure writers feel valued and are fairly compensated, and tell great stories together.”
He was further asked what commonalities would help end the strike, and he responded by pointing out the unique role entertainment plays in popular culture.
“I think it’s the love of business and the love of working,” Zaslav said when asked about what brought the two together. We got into this business because we have the chance to make a cultural impact when we are at our best. And that is what brings us together.”
Sutra profitable this yearHowever, he acknowledges that changing consumption models are making predictions more difficult.
“We think streaming is going to be very beneficial for us. We are unique. We have a lot of scale. We have some great creatives and all the Discovery content,” said Zaslav. “That said, the industry is in the midst of significant turmoil and people are changing the way they consume content. What’s the right value for it, it’s been a model that’s been around for 50 years when everyone was consuming content on TV, it’s about figuring out where the value is and how to divide it fairly. was very easy.”