Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Thursday, May 23rd, 2024

Is David Zaslav the NY Mets of the media industry?

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, May 23rd, 2024:

IS DAVID ZAZLAV THE NEW YORK METS OF THE MEDIA BUSINESS?
Warner Bros. Discovery is on the verge of losing the rights to the National Basketball Association, ending a 35-year relationship between the league and WBD's Turner Sports subsidiary.

My suspicion is that WBD execs will be able to carve away some small subset of games in order to save face. And the NBA is likely to encourage that idea if it makes it less likely that WBD will sue the league in an effort to retain at least some games.

But what is also undoubtedly true is that WBD CEO David Zaslav and his executive team committed a series of errors and miscalculations that made it possible for Comcast and Amazon to step in and nab the games package it had held for decades.

The various media companies were always going to pay a massive increase in sports rights costs during this round of negotiations. And WBD had the inside track on extending the deal. Both WBD and Disney had an exclusive window in which to negotiate a contract renewal. Zaslav seriously bungled the process first by publicly arguing that his company didn't need the NBA. Then, when the league reportedly asked for $2.3 billion a year for the next 11 years, Zaslav offered what he apparently described as a final offer of $2.1 billion a year. And the NBA opened up negotiations with Comcast and Amazon.

According to sources inside the company, Zaslav had argued WBD could only afford around $2 billion annually for sports rights. But when faced with the possibility of losing rights that are so integral to the company, not being willing to pony up an additional $200 million a year seems like the wrong move.

And the NBA is a vital component of the WBD bottom line. TNT, the linear network that has aired the games for decades, garners nearly $2.5 billion a year in carriage fees and another $650 million plus in advertising revenue from the game broadcasts. It's possible Zaslav might be able to cobble together some smaller packages in order to provide some level of live sports programming. But it won't come near to the NBA revenue stream. And aside from the revenue hit, cable operators will be more willing to ask for a reduction in TNT's per subscriber carriage fee, which currently runs around $3 a month.

Now on one hand, yes, Warner Bros Discovery has a finite amount of money to spend on content. And it has substantially cut content spend across the board, even on original programming for its key cable networks such as The Food Network and HGTV.

But at the same time executives are claiming there wasn't the money to put towards a successful NBA rights bid, the company is in the process of wrapping up a nearly $2 billion plan to buy back bonds and company stock from investors in order to boost stock prices and allow some investors to cash out their positions at a profit.

All of which gets back to a point I frequently make when I'm talking about David Zaslav and his reign at Warner Bros Discovery. So much of his decision making has been fueled by the financial consequences of the ill-fated merger and his need to cut costs in order to increased free cash flow. Which, as it turns out, is the metric used to determine whether he'll qualify for his stock package and incentive bonuses.

There aren't a lot of times when you can point to a decision made by a CEO and definitively blame them for resulting disaster. But this is one time when the blame is pretty clear. And however this is resolved, it's going to be ugly.

ODDS AND SODS
* I reviewed the new Amazon Prime Kids animated series Angry Birds: Mystery Island...A Hatchlings Adventure. And I don't mean to brag, but this may be the only review of the show that includes a reference to both Gilligan's Island and Succession.

* French government pitches country as a "one stop shop" for global TV and movie production.

* Here is a round-up of interesting global TV stories from today.

* Disney+ released a first look trailer of the upcoming original film Descendants: The Rise Of Red. 


TWEET OF THE DAY

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

THURSDAY, MAY 23RD:
* Cradle Of Deception (Lifetime)
* Don't Forget The Lyrics Season Premiere (Fox)
* Elsbeth Season One Finale (CBS)
* Evil Season Premiere (Paramount+)
* Franco Escamilla: Ladies' Man - [first look video]
* Garouden: The Way Of The Lone Wolf Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Illusions For Sale: The Rise And Fall Of Generacion Zoe (Netflix)
* In Good Hands 2 (Netflix)
* McDonald & Dodds (BritBox)
* Red Nose Day: Cheers To Ten Years (NBC)
* Romário: The Guy (Romário: O Cara) Series Premiere (Max)
* The Blue Angels (Prime Video)
* The Kardashians Season Five Premiere 
* The Ms. Pat Show Season Four Premiere (BET+)
* The 1% Club Series Premiere (Prime Video)
* Thirst With Shay Mitchell Series Premiere (Max)
* Tires Series Premiere (Netflix) - [first look video]

FRIDAY. MAY 24TH:
* Atlas (Netflix)
* Destination Heaven Series Premiere (Great American Pure Flix)
* Diary Of An Old Home Season Premiere (Magnolia)
* Dom (Prime Video)
* Great Performances: Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through The Cotton Patch (PBS)
* Jurassic World: Chaos Theory Series Premiere (Netflix) - [first look video]
* Lingo Season Premiere (CBS)
* Mr. Manhattan (Great American Pure Flix)
* Mulligan (Netflix)
* My Oni Girl (Netflix)
* Off Script With The Hollywood Reporter Season Premiere (IFC)
* The Beach Boys (Disney+)
* The Great American Baking Show Season Premiere (The Roku Channel)
* The Test (Prime Video)
* The Ultimatum: South Africa Reunion (Netflix)

SEE YOU ON FRIDAY!