Warner Bros. Discovery
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Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T and its merger with Discovery, Inc. on April 8, 2022.
Why You Should Warn a Brother About a Terrible Discovery
- The new company had a horrible start. In four months, the Discovery side destroyed the company's WarnerMedia (formerly TimeWarner) side; below are the reasons.
- They, along with two of their subsidiaries, Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network, supported NFTs which previously were hazardous for the environment. Even then, it's still unsafe because they are prone to scams.
- The merger caused WBD's stock to crash by 50% in its first five months, falling from $60 billion to $30 billion. This left the company with over $53 billion in debt.
- For reference, AT&T acquired WarnerMedia in 2018 for $85 billion and received half of that total ($43 billion) from the merger with Discovery.
- They have canceled most Warner Bros. projects and ended several shows, including their films, such as Batgirl, Scoob! Holiday Haunt, and Coyote vs Acme, even though these films were already largely finished and almost ready for release, with only some post-production stuff incomplete. The reason, at least for the latter, was for a tax write-off. It got so severe that even The United States Congress called it a stupid idea, calling it "burning down a building for insurance money."
- To make matters even worse, a few US states are seriously losing their GDP because of Warner Bros. Discovery's almost illegal, anti-competitive, and greedy tax write-offs.
- To make things worse, recently, reports emerged that they want to merge with Paramount Global, which could get more Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and Paramount films canceled before release or potentially more employees being let go from both companies. Thankfully, the talks fell through.[1]
- They have been removing shows from HBO Max (now known simply as Max in the US) in international countries and official YouTube channels before this practice moved on to the United States too.
- HBO Max collapsed thanks to this company. A long list of shows were removed from the service and it was eventually relaunched as Max in 2023 (though to be fair, this is probably a response to HBO Max and Discovery+ merging into one platform).
- Recently, just like Netflix, they cut costs on the children's content from HBO Max, including the family-friendly animated shows still in development, proving that they view animation as expendable. It is believed that David Zaslav harbors a genuine hatred for animation.
- To make matters worse, the company either permanently or temporarily removed 30 animated titles from HBO Max in the U.S, including content from Cartoon Network, Sesame Workshop, and Cartoonito. Even some shows still in production were removed, which could be a sign that the shows are canceled.
- Almost all of the pre-2008 Sesame Street episodes (which already suffered from heavy editing and censorship, with many sketches being replaced with other ones and subject matter that Sesame Workshop views as "unsuitable for children"/believes may be imitated by kids in the show's target audience being cut) were dropped from Max in August 2022. In December 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery declined to renew Sesame Workshop and HBO's deal for new episodes.
- Shows like Infinity Train, Final Space, Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart, Uncle Grandpa, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Clarence, Little Ellen, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Ben 10 (2005) (which was replaced by the 2016 reboot), Dexter's Laboratory[2], Codename: Kids Next Door, Ed, Edd n Eddy, The Ollie & Moon Show (which is third-party), etc. had been removed from HBO Max, leaving only Samurai Jack, Adventure Time, The Powerpuff Girls (2016), Ben 10 (2016), Regular Show (though that one is available on Disney+ with The Disney Bundle) and possibly Steven Universe the only Cartoon Network shows to still be available on HBO Max.
- To make it even worse, clips of these shows have also been removed from the official HBO Max and CN YouTube channels, and even extended to Cartoon Network's website and social media. This even goes as far as getting Infinity Train's soundtrack delisted from Apple Music. All of this indicates that the executives in charge of Warner Bros. Discovery are canceling shows like Infinity Train and removing all mention of them from videos and social media just to save money. There are even indications that Infinity Train was written off for taxes, which Owen Dennis thankfully stated was false.
- They also removed over 200 classic Looney Tunes shorts from HBO Max as the licensing agreement expired. Thankfully, not all Looney Tunes shows were removed, and some of the more popular cartoons removed (like One Froggy Evening) returned to the service due to popular demand, but still. In 2024, their entire slate of pre-1951 Looney Tunes shorts were removed right as their post-1951 shorts returned to the service from a 2-year hiatus.
- It was even worse for Rooster Teeth, an Internet-based company that was shut down by Warner Bros. Discovery in 2024 (though fortunately, Red vs. Blue was able to get a finale, and RWBY was rescued by Viz Media).
- Other animation projects had moved from HBO Max to other streaming services and networks like Disney+, Paramount+, and Tubi TV. But thankfully, they are at least saved from cancellation.
- To make matters worse, the company either permanently or temporarily removed 30 animated titles from HBO Max in the U.S, including content from Cartoon Network, Sesame Workshop, and Cartoonito. Even some shows still in production were removed, which could be a sign that the shows are canceled.
- On May 9th, 2023, they removed Clarence on HBO Max, reasons remain unknown.[3]
- In May 2023, the Adult Swim series Space Ghost Coast to Coast was removed from HBO Max upon its relaunch as Max for reasons unknown. However, it is still available on iTunes (save for the last six episodes) and DVD (save for the last three seasons).
- Recently, just like Netflix, they cut costs on the children's content from HBO Max, including the family-friendly animated shows still in development, proving that they view animation as expendable. It is believed that David Zaslav harbors a genuine hatred for animation.
- The merger has resulted in the biased cancellation of shows that follow serialization and incorporate drama, including Final Space and Infinity Train, in favor of unscripted reality shows that completely lack any intelligence and showcase the worst of humanity. Even the executives from there insulted the fans who were infuriated by the cancellation of Final Space by making an unfunny joke about it on an Adult Swim bump while it was running, showing that they do not care about the show's fans.
- David Zaslav, the key figure behind the Warner Bros. and Discovery merger, has expressed his dislike for scripted dramas in a 2015 interview with Time Magazine, comparing them to watching a children's soccer game where everyone wants to be involved, leading to excessive costs. It is puzzling how he connected Final Space, a specific show, to a children's soccer game. The relationship between the two seems unrelated.
- Ironically, despite his aversion to scripted dramas, Zaslav highly praised the Game of Thrones spin-off prequel show House of the Dragon, emphasizing its massive viewership of up to 130 million people in the U.S. This inconsistency in his preferences suggests a hypocrisy regarding his stance on show formats.
- David Zaslav, the key figure behind the Warner Bros. and Discovery merger, has expressed his dislike for scripted dramas in a 2015 interview with Time Magazine, comparing them to watching a children's soccer game where everyone wants to be involved, leading to excessive costs. It is puzzling how he connected Final Space, a specific show, to a children's soccer game. The relationship between the two seems unrelated.
- This merger had been overshadowing the 30th anniversary of Cartoon Network. While they were trying to put effort into celebrating it right, this corporate merger has been ruining it and making their plans seem underwhelming.
- They have closed down Cartoon Network Studios' headquarters in Burbank.
- They, alongside HBO, believe in the bogus sexual harassment allegations of Michael Jackson shown in Leaving Neverland, to the point where they even kept the film on their streaming service Max.
- They've released tons of either bad/mediocre films, including;
- Black Adam
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods
- The Flash
- The Nun II
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (which ended the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) on a sour note)
- Joker: Folie à Deux
- Under Discovery's management, CNN is shifting its bias to be more favorable to the Republican Party (in the United States) just like Fox News. Under the new CEO Chris Licht, the network canceled Reliable Sources and fired host Brian Stelter, instructed that president-elect Donald Trump's 2020 election conspiracies no longer be referred to as "the big lie", and secretly fired correspondent John Harwood for speaking too favorably of liberal issues, with him leaving shortly after praising a speech from Biden where he called Republicans "semi-fascists".
- They also worked with China's CGTN on a documentary about Xinjiang, an infamous event that China as a whole is extremely infamous for. This shows how far Warner Bros. has fallen from grace.
- Their logos from 2019-2022 are oversimplified; luckily, they were redesigned again in 2023.
- While speaking to attendees of the Aspen Institute of Business and PolicyLink’s February 20, 2024 The Future of DEI in Corporate America webinar, Warner Bros. Discovery Chief DEI Officer Dr. Asif Sadiq promoted not working with, ignoring, and discriminating against employees who do not support the DEI agenda.
- They didn't even give Warner Bros. Pictures an actual logo for their 100th anniversary until late 2023 with Wonka.
- They treat Warner Bros.'s IP catalog terribly and completely disregard the company's legacy, such as Looney Tunes, which they've started neglecting very recently, and the majority of shows from Cartoon Network, which they refuse to do anything with as of now.
- Ironically, they're still using the Scooby-Doo IP despite the negative reception of Velma and the franchise already being run into the ground due to them milking for far too long and refusing to take a break from it in general, which was something the original Warner Bros Studio was infamous for.
- In fact, their treatment of the series is awful since they greenlighted Velma (2023), which was hated by many fans for its lack of loyalty to the source material and overall being a desperate attempt at modernizing the series.
- Ironically, they're still using the Scooby-Doo IP despite the negative reception of Velma and the franchise already being run into the ground due to them milking for far too long and refusing to take a break from it in general, which was something the original Warner Bros Studio was infamous for.
- They changed Warner Animation Group's iconic name to the less cool-sounding Warner Bros. Pictures Animation.
- The biggest problem regarding their own Kids Channel is they milked Tom and Jerry non-stop; therefore, turned into a cash cow; when you look at this Playlist of "Classic Cartoons | WB Kids", there are more than four-hundred videos of Tom and Jerry and only a few videos of Looney Tunes.
- In November of 2023, David confirmed that the company's gaming division, Warner Bros. Games, will double down on making live-service online-only games filled with predatory monetization practices whilst moving away from single-player experiences, which has led to the critical and commercial failure of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League as well as concerns from gamers regarding the upcoming Wonder Woman game by Monolith Production which could potentially fall under this category.
- Despite the failure of Kill the Justice League, the company is still committed to making live-service games, which shows how stubborn and egotistical the company is and that this continuation of the live-service commitment could lead to massive layoffs at their studios or even possibly closures of said studios, and how little they think of their customers' intelligence, believing them to be gullible idiots who will blindly throw money at anything they make.
- Even worse for Adult Swim Games, now retiring to publish Adult Swim-related, including Indie games, it will be delisted due to WBD doubling down in favor of Live-service games and will be delisted for all platforms. Thankfully, those games will be transferred and brought back to the developer.
- As stated in WYSWABAATD#3B, they've decided to reject the idea of attempting to sell "Coyote vs. Acme" to other studios such as Netflix, Amazon, and Paramount and instead return to their original plan of shelving the movie.
- To make it worse, David Zaslav never actually saw the movie, which shows how hypocritical this choice was.
- What's more insulting is that Will Forte stated that they may have deleted the movie to reduce taxes. This tactic is known as Wiping, which is pretty bad, as there's a real possibility the film is lost.
- Fortunately, during the red carpet for the 96th Academy Awards in 2024, Burch said conversations were still ongoing within Warner Bros. He said, "We hope it will somehow find its home and not end up stuck in a vault for the rest of time."
- The company is known to be extremely egotistical since they've claimed that they're the only pure storytelling company in the world,[4] despite many of their recent films receiving mixed reviews from critics and many other studios such as Universal Studios, A24, Paramount Pictures, Disney, Sony, Lionsgate, BBC (such as Doctor Who), and even Netflix can have great stories in their media too.
- In February of 2023, they filed a lawsuit against Paramount Global alleging that the company had breached its $500 million licensing deal with HBO Max by diverting South Park specials to Paramount+. As of today, the case has yet to be settled and is still ongoing.
- They are very disrespectful to their fans and refuse to listen to negative feedback whenever they make another bad business decision that upsets them; this has happened with the Coyote vs Acme controversy, where they took the situation very badly and didn't care about how they hurt the feelings of many fans alike, who were one of the main reasons why they were so beloved during the 1940s and the rest of their history with their respect and care for the company and how they helped them become one of the most beloved movie studios of all time. Warner Bros. Discovery never acknowledges their passionate fandom and only cares about money, which is made even worse by the poor treatment of their IPs and bad business decisions that caused them to become so hated in the 2020s and why many fans have stopped supporting the company since then.
- In fact, many of the actors behind the Looney Tunes are more kind and supportive of fans than Warner Bros. Discovery themselves and are mad at the company for canceling Coyote vs ACME in the first place, considering that many of the executives have never seen the movie during production and just decided to cancel for no reason other than corporate greed, thus disrespecting the legacy of the iconic characters and their impact on animation in general.
Redeeming Qualities
- Cartoon Network and Adult Swim have stood up to the merger and warned them not to remove their shows from HBO Max. The Coyote vs Acme film crew was also not fond of the film's cancellation, calling Warner Bros Discovery "anti-art.".
- Several creators of animated shows have shown to be very unhappy about the merger, including its consequences. For example, Owen Dennis, the creator of Infinity Train criticized the executives for their decision to pull multiple shows from HBO Max. Meanwhile, Final Space creator Olan Rogers has stated that he refuses to give up on the show and revealed that he is making an animated short called Godspeed, which is heavily influenced by Final Space to try to convince the executives to bring the show back on the air. Godspeed is successfully funded on Kickstarter with over 460,000 dollars raised. Eventually, on April 24, 2023, Rodgers announced that he would finish Final Space in the form of a graphic novel known as Final Space: The Final Chapter. However, each copy will cost 125 dollars.
- Speaking of Cartoon Network's 30th anniversary, this hasn't stopped them from having a good schedule. As they're starting to air reruns of their classic shows for their big anniversary.
- Some good films have been released during this period like:
- Barbie (2023)
- Blue Beetle
- Wonka
- Dune: Part Two
- Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
- Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
- The 2023 logo redesign is much better than the oversimplified 2019 variant.
- David Zaslav saved WB's physical media division from getting laid off in favor of more HBO Max content, which was what AT&T planned to do.
- Sam Register is a good CEO of their animation subsidiary, allowing The Animation Guild to renew their contract with Warner Bros., being against AI, and bringing older cartoons (like Looney Tunes or The Flintstones) back to broadcast TV.
Trivia
- Because of the actions of Warner Bros. Discovery, two of the shows they have canceled and pulled from their streaming services made it onto WatchMojo’s video on "Top 10 Cartoon Cancellations That Made Fans Rage Quit" with Final Space ranking 4th and Infinity Train included in the honorable mentions.
Videos
NOTE: MOST OF THE VIDEOS WERE ABOUT THE CARTOON NETWORK & MAX.
References
- ↑ https://www.axios.com/2023/12/20/warner-bros-paramount-merger-discovery-streaming?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_medium=social
- ↑ https://twitter.com/CCNCartoonNews/status/1656527927532462081
- ↑ https://twitter.com/CartoonCrave_/status/1655944306635735043
- ↑ https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/david-zaslav-warner-bros-discovery-paramount-nba-1235993187/
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