WarnerMedia announced the much-in-talk merger with Discovery and it has finally got a name. The newly-formed company will be called Warner Bros. Discovery. Although the merger was officially announced last month, the name has been decided only now, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Discovery CEO David Zaslav will be in charge of running the merged group. WarnerMedia is the bigger company between the two with around three times the 2020 revenue and a ton of iconic characters and properties in their kitty. Discovery brings to the table a huge archive of superhit reality TV shows and a growing news and sports business in Europe.
Zaslav said the new company’s tagline will be “The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of,” a reference to the 1941 classic starring Humphrey Bogart and distributed by the Warner Bros. film studio. Zaslav said during the meeting that the company’s new name and tagline are intended to emphasize its heritage as a content company. During the almost 40-minute meeting, Zaslav said that he would try his best to keep the best people from both Discovery and WarnerMedia.
Here’s what Zaslav said about the name and logo: “We love the new company’s name because it represents the combination of Warner Bros.’ fabled hundred year legacy of creative, authentic storytelling and taking bold risks to bring the most amazing stories to life, with Discovery’s global brand that has always stood brightly for integrity, innovation and inspiration. There are so many wonderful, creative and journalistic cultures that will make up the Warner Bros. Discovery family. We believe it will be the best and most exciting place in the world to tell big, important and impactful stories across any genre – and across any platform: film, television and streaming.”
Zaslav mentioned that Warner Bros. is being included in the new name because it is “synonymous with 98 years of excellence.” “The Warner Bros. Discovery name will honor, celebrate and elevate the world’s most-storied creative studio in the world with the high quality, global nonfiction storytelling heritage of Discovery,” the company said. Roughly 70 senior staffers were in the room when the merger’s name was revealed. Apart from Zaslav, the list includes WarnerMedia Networks and Studios chair Ann Sarnoff, Warner Bros. Pictures Group chief Toby Emmerich, and HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys.
The new media company would be the result of a $43 billion proposed merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia, which AT&T said it would spin out in only just three years after buying Time Warner. High stakes, there! The merger unites the film studio, and home of HBO, TNT and CNN, with Discovery’s lineup of cable TV channels like HGTV and the Food Network. The business, with its HBO Max online streaming service, is expected to be a robust player in the shifting of consumers from the traditional TV-watching to subscription-based entertainment.
As Zaslav and the newly-emerged company come together to work and chalk out new ideas, there is no doubt about more breaking news doing the rounds surrounding the mammoth deal.