Warner Bros. Discovery's Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels reveals that the company's period of layoffs and content writeoffs for the company's streaming service, HBO Max, which included canceling films like Batgirl and canceling shows like Westworld (and then removing them from the service entirely) is "done," and 2023 will concentrate on relaunching and building the streaming service.
Due to the accounting as part of the purchase, there was an incentive for Warner Bros. Discovery to get as much of its writeoffs done in 2022, and the company ultimately saw its content impairment and development write-off charges reach nearly $1 billion more than it first thought, getting to roughly $3.5 billion in total, by canceling shows on multiple Warner Bros. Discovery platforms (including many TBS programs), removing the canceled shows, like Westworld, from HBO Max, "un-renewing" shows like Minx, ending licensing agreements (which is why multiple seasons of Looney Tunes and Flintstones are now off of HBO Max), and choosing to shop projects like Batman: Caped Crusader to other streaming services rather than feature them on HBO Max.
WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY CLAIMS THE CONTENT RESTRUCTURING IS NOW BEHIND IT IN 2023
Wiedenfels was speaking at Citi’s 2023 Communications, Media & Entertainment Conference when he made this statement, also explaining that these restructuring moves were spread out because the company took different approaches with each property, "We took a little bit of time to make sure that we do it properly. For some of the titles, we’ve found new homes elsewhere. That’s why this took six or seven months. But I think we’ve come to great solutions and, most importantly, we’re done with that chapter,”
He added, “That was very important to all of us, to really use 2022 to leave the purchase accounting behind us, leave those initial strategy changes behind us, get it all out there in terms of our restructuring estimates and then be able to turn the page forward. I think the team has laid a great foundation and I’m really excited about the growth from here.”
WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY CLAIMS THAT IT IS NOW AHEAD OF THE CUTS THAT OTHER STREAMERS WILL HAVE TO MAKE
Wiedenfels also made a point of noting that while Warner Bros. Discovery's restructuring received a lot of attention, the other companies out there will likely be doing the same thing in the future, explaining "We're coming from an irrational time of overspending with very limited focus on return on investment. He then claimed that "others are going to have to make some adjustments that we frankly have behind us now
He doubled down on the future of the company, making the bold claim, “We’re going to come out with a great product from a consumer-experience perspective, and that’s, frankly, the biggest holdback for HBO Max right now. The experience is not where it needs to be."
Source: Variety