Warner Bros. Discovery is in hot water after allegedly fabricating subscriber numbers ahead of a shareholder meeting.
According to a report from The Wrap, a lawsuit on behalf of the Collinsville Police Pension Board, a shareholder of Warner Bros. Discovery, was filed alleging the streamer exaggerated HBO Max subscriber numbers by approximately 10 million. According to the lawsuit, WarnerMedia falsified the subscriber number "by including as subscribers AT&T customers who had received bundled access to HBO Max, but had not signed onto the service." It also states that "hundreds of thousands" of people could join the lawsuit due to the large number of WBD shares that exist.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of news that Warner Bros. Discovery is in the thick of major financial struggles. After an August earnings call revealed that it fell $2 billion short of Wall Street estimates, the company's stock plummeted.
Warner Bros. Discovery Is Having a Rough Year
Just days before the call, WBD canceled Batgirl. At first, a source said this was because a test screening proved the film would be "irredeemable," but another source theorized the cancellation came so that the struggling WBD could use it for a tax write-off.
Batgirl isn't the only example of the company abruptly altering the release of one of their films. Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom both faced recent substantial delays, which Borys Kit, a writer for The Hollywood Reporter, claims "underscore[s] what a financial mess Warner Bros. Discovery is as the studio has only enough cash to release 2 movies from now to the end of this year (Don't Worry Darling and Black Adam)."
As of now, the future of WBD is unclear. In addition to movie cancelations and delays, the company has also faced major layoffs. In late August, it was reported that they fired 29 employees, including a number of powerful execs. These layoffs come from WBD CEO David Zaslav's hopes to come up with $3 billion to rectify the company's intense debts.
Meanwhile, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts is reportedly eyeing a purchase of the company in 2024 so he can merge WBD with NBCUniversal. A source speculates that Zaslav would welcome being bought, explaining, "There are some good synergies," adding "I'm sure [Roberts] is licking his chops because the [WBD] stock is so low. And I think that's Zaslav's endgame. Get the place sold."
Source: The Wrap