Warner Bros. Discovery is ‘absolutely not for sale,’ says CEO

Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav seems to be trying to squash rumors that he wants to sell the company to the likes of Comcast. According to a Report from Deadline, he told employees that “we are not for sale, absolutely, not for sale,” during a Zoom call on Wednesday attended by staff from all over the company.

While he reportedly didn’t address any specific rumors, A recent report by The Hollywood ReporterHis comments seem to have been directed at him. Earlier this month, the outlet suggested that “top industry execs” were “convinced” that Warner Bros. was on the brink of merging with Comcast, owners of NBCUniversal and the Peacock streaming service (and, DisclosureVox Media is an investor. The Verge’s parent company). One was even mourning the passing of another studio. 21st Century Fox was purchased by DisneyAccording to the report,

It’s easy to understand why there are rumors that the company might be looking for a buy-out. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, its search for someone to lead its 10-year DC plan hasn’t been particularly fruitful, it has a staggering amount of debt, and there have been layoffs, with Talk about more coming soon.

In other words, it’s been a rough few months since The mega-merger which created the company was completed. However, Alex Cranz, my colleague, said that. These points are highlighted in an excellent article, Zaslav’s goal isn’t for Warner Bros. Discovery to win the streaming wars, with any service that results. The merging of Discovery Plus and HBO Max. He wants to make the most profit with as little investment as possible. It’s understandable that people thought the most logical way to make a quick buck would be packaging up a bunch of services and IP into a sort of turnkey purchase for some other media corporation, but that assumes that Zaslav is playing the same game as everyone else. And at this point, it’s not entirely clear that he is.

Of course, it’s always possible that the statement is some sort of 4D chess move to solicit big offers, but that seems unlikely to me. According to Deadline, he told workers that “we have everything we need to be successful to be the biggest entertainment media company in the world,” and the company is well on its way to achieving its $3 billion cost-cutting goal. Sure, things might look bad for the company’s customers, but why sell just as you’re getting your business right where you want it?