With Discovery and WarnerMedia set to complete their $43 billion merger later this week, most attention has focused on the transaction’s impact on WarnerMedia’s film and screenplay business. There’s been a lot of talk in the industry about the importance of Casey Bloy’s scriptwriting television empire and whether Toby Emmerich will continue to run the Batman film studio.
The pair are expected to report directly to David Zaslav alongside Warner Bros. TV chief Channing Dungey under the company’s new structure, which is due to be unveiled shortly.
But as high profile as these areas are, they complement Discovery’s business, which is only marginally involved in scripted TV through the company’s joint venture with Oprah Winfrey OWN. Meanwhile, the two merging companies have the greatest overlap in unscripted television and where the combination of assets will require consolidation.
It’s largely gone under how Discovery, rumored to be a company run entirely by reality television and unscripted executives, will bring together the numerous unscripted divisions and cable networks fueled largely by that nonfiction pipeline across the two groups .
Apparently, Discovery executives are keeping quiet until the deal closes, which is expected to come on Friday.
Kathleen Finch discovery
Kathleen Finch, currently Discovery’s Chief Lifestyle Brands Officer, where she oversees networks like HGTV and TLC, is expected to oversee the expanded network group, which now includes Turner networks like TNT, TBS and truTV, as well as Cartoon Network, TCM, Adult Swim and Boomerang.
Sources suggest Finch, who assumed the role in 2018 following Discovery’s acquisition of Scripps Network, could oversee all of the company’s linear networks, including the T-Nets as well as the largely children’s group now led by former Freeform boss Tom Ascheim will .
Finch knows the linear landscape well; She began as a broadcast journalist, including 12 years at CBS Network News before managing programming at Food Network, where she developed series such as Ace of Cakes, and becoming president of HGTV and then all of the Scripps networks.
“Kathleen fits the Discovery mold. She’s smart, lives in New York, is new and has no profile, so she’s perfect,” said one observer.
She’s also considered “a tick above” Nancy Daniels, who is Chief Brand Officer, Discovery and Factual and oversees Discovery Channel, among other things. There’s also a possibility that Daniels will take on an expanded role as well.
“David will favor those he knows,” added another source. Daniels has been with the company since 2007, having led development and production for Discovery’s West Coast studio business. “Nancy is a survivor and doing well, although she hasn’t commissioned a single hit in a while.”
On the corporate side, key roles will be played by Bruce Campbell, Chief Development, Distribution and Legal Officer, and JB Perrette, President and CEO of Streaming and International, as well as International Chief Gerhard Zeiler.
Other major leaders in the Discovery universe who are expected to play key roles in the future include Jane Latman, Howard Lee, and Jason Sarlanis.
Latman, who has been with Discovery since 2003, runs HGTV and recently took control of Food Network after President Courtney White left to start her own production company. While HGTV and Food Network aren’t the sexiest television networks, they are two of the most valuable, especially given their reach among female audiences.
Lee, as President of TLC, is the man credited with the success of 90 Day Fiancé, arguably Discovery’s most valuable franchise with a multitude of spinoffs. It’s hugely popular in the development and production worlds, and the merged group would marry another idea of this magnitude in a heartbeat.
He is also believed to work well with Jason Sarlanis, a rising star at Discovery who has served as boss for Crime & Investigative Content, Linear and Streaming. The former ABC and E! exec has shows like Keeping Up With The Kardashians on his resume and his growing influence has been noticeable in recent years.
The big question regarding the WarnerMedia side of the equation is what does this mean for executives like Ascheim, Brett Weitz, General Manager of TNT, TBS and truTV, Corie Henson, EVP and Head of Unscripted for TBS, TNT and truTV and Jennifer O’Connell, EVP, children’s non-fiction and live-action programming on HBO Max.
Henson is behind series like the Wipeout reboot, The Cube, Go-Big Show and Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses, the competitive series produced by Warner Bros. and hosted by Helen Mirren that did well for TBS and Cartoon Network.
FBoy Island HBO Max
O’Connell also had a few hits on the streamer; Selena + Chef was a quarantine production renewed for a fourth season, ballroom competition Legendary is returning for a third season, and the formerly provocatively titled FBoy Island caused quite a stir.
“FBoy Island may not be Citizen Kane, but that’s their market,” said a source.
The source added that it’s likely the merged company will create a consolidated entity that buys across its division, similar to how ABC and Hulu are now under Rob Mills, and NBC, its sister cable networks, and Peacock under Jenny Groom and Rod come Aissa, possibly under Daniels’ supervision.
A vendor told Deadline that WarnerMedia executives “haven’t officially cut the tap yet, but there’s been a lot of poking” while they wait and see what happens.
Then there is the studio side. Channing Dungey will remain in charge of Warner Bros. Television, and it doesn’t look like there will be a seniority between the likes of Dungey, Bloys and Emmerich and Zaslav, despite months of rumors linking the likes of Disney’s Peter Rice bring a role.
But how does Mike Darnell, President of Unscripted and Alternative Television, fit into the puzzle? Discovery, which has never been a content provider, would probably welcome the studio adding more internally-produced content to its crowded pipeline (although, as a quirk of Discovery’s work-for-hire model, it already owns its shows, which are outsourced producers do for it).
Some have suggested that Darnell gets a bigger production role for the Discovery channels, in addition to selling to third-party networks and streamers, and that the “mad genius” behind shows like Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction and the Paris Hilton reality series The Simple Life, along with hits like MasterChef, American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, is perfect for creating the kind of stunt programming Discovery loves.
However, others have warned that the mercury number may not sit well with a company run by Zaslav.
Former NBC exec Zaslav, who is moving into Bob Evan’s infamous Hollywood home, is known for valuing loyalty, but a number of sources also highlighted the fact that he also sees all of his executives through the prism of “What are you for?” done me ‘judge lately?’.
“Nothing will be strange [with this consolidation]. It’s a mercenary game in a mercenary world. These people don’t make a mess, they are ruthless in their clarity,” a source said.
“It’s kind of funny that a reality guy is taking over the movie business,” added another.