WarnerMedia and Discovery’s New Company Finally Has a Name

The newly combined WarnerMedia and Discovery will be known as Warner Bros. Discovery, the companies said today. Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav, who will serve as CEO for the new company, unveiled the name to WarnerMedia employees Tuesday morning from the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, Calif. “Warner Bros. Discovery will aspire to be the most innovative, exciting and fun place to tell stories in the world—that is what the company will be about," Zaslav said. "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." Zaslav added that there are "so many wonderful, creative and journalistic cultures under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella, saying, "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.” The new moniker caps off a rollercoaster two weeks since AT&T and Discovery announced the transaction between WarnerMedia and Discovery, which is designed to set up both entities for success in the fast-growing and increasingly competitive streaming landscape. The new logo includes a famous line from the Warner Bros. classic film The Maltese Falcon, "the stuff that dreams are made of," which the companies said is an homage to Warner Bros.' legacy and the focus of the new entity. Reshaping the media landscape The deal, announced two weeks ago, stands to reshape the media landscape and could usher in another era of mergers and acquisitions as media companies look to lock down a bigger share of the streaming entertainment pie. It’s unclear for now as to whether each companies’ streaming services, HBO Max and Discovery+, will be combined into a single streaming offering or bundled together retaining their separate brand identities. Many analysts expect the latter. The merger announcement also changed the tone of upfronts week as Madison Avenue scrambled to lock in commitments while wondering how the companies might combine their assets. For now, buyers are conducting separate talks with both companies’ ad sales teams. Discovery ad sales chief Jon Steinlauf and WarnerMedia ad sales chief JP Colaco both told Adweek that the merger will have no impact on their upfront negotiations, and any commitments made with their respective teams will be honored once the deal is finalized. Both Discovery and WarnerMedia appended their prerecorded upfronts presentations with late-minute executive remarks acknowledging the deal. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who will lead the combined companies as CEO, addressed marketers at the beginning of Discovery’s upfront presentation, inviting company partners “to write our next chapter together." WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar (who is reportedly negotiating his exit in the wake of the merger but who last week publicly committed to remaining for the next year) made similar remarks at WarnerMedia’s own upfront. In its presentation, the company unveiled new details about the ad-supported tier of streamer HBO Max, debuting the first week of June. Zaslav signed a new contract with Discovery last week that will keep him at the company through at least 2027. What WarnerMedia-Discovery’s Streaming-Centric Merger Means For HBO Max and Discovery+