Warner Bros. Discovery Sets Combined Upfront for May 18

Three days after Warner Bros. Discovery appointed an ad sales chief, the company now also has a new upfront strategy following Friday’s merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery. The new company will hold its combined upfront on Wednesday morning, May 18 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater, just five weeks from now. According to the company, “The presentation will showcase Warner Bros. Discovery’s differentiated and complete portfolio of content, brands, franchises and talent to clients, agency partners, investors, sell-side analysts and press.” The companies opted to take the date, time and location of WarnerMedia’s planned upfront event, instead of Discovery’s presentation, which had been set for Tuesday morning, May 17 in a smaller venue: Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall. That May 17 event will no longer take place. Buyers Have Many Questions As Warner Bros. Discovery Opens For Business Eleven months after the deal was first announced, the companies crossed the finish line late Friday afternoon and completed their $43 billion merger, combining the media assets of WarnerMedia and Discovery to create a new, streaming-centric media company that will once again reshape the media landscape. Friday morning, hours before the merger closed, Jon Steinlauf was named chief U.S. advertising sales officer for the combined company. He will report to Bruce Campbell, the new company’s chief revenue and strategy officer. Steinlauf, who currently holds that same title for Discovery, received the top job over JP Colaco, who was head of advertising sales at WarnerMedia. Colaco will be leaving the company, but will stay on for brief period of time to help with the transition. Buyers' post-merger questions As Adweek previously reported, marketers have several questions about Warner Bros. Discovery as it officially opens for business and how the two sales teams will be integrated. “Selling the NBA is a much different thing than selling Discovery ID,” said David Campanelli, chief investment officer, Horizon Media. “So putting those things together will probably take some time.” As for the upfront negotiations themselves, marketers have been told that the team will be “full-steam ahead” as a single ad sales entity, said Campanelli. “Everyone’s been as honest as they can be, saying, we’re going to figure it out, we’re going to try to make this upfront as smooth as possible,” said Carrie Drinkwater, chief investment officer, Mediahub. “They have made it very clear, there will not be any disruptions. I do believe this upfront will be business as usual—but there is no ‘usual’ business anymore. So I am not concerned right now.”

TV Upfronts

Warner Bros. Discovery Sets Combined Upfront Event for May 18

It will take the place of WarnerMedia’s previously-scheduled presentation at the Hulu Theater

Jason Lynch

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Jason Lynch