Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis. [40] Some of those projects were "practically finished" or in the late stages of post-production, including Batgirl and Scoob! Market data provided by Factset. To sustain that position, Zaslav will have to drastically readjust his spending habits. Though Zaslav himself did not dispute the context of the comment when Joe Kernen asked for clarification, his true intent was made clear when Zaslav followed up by saying he views sports as being on the right side of the portfolio. David Zaslav, Discovery's CEO, will lead the combined Discovery-WarnerMedia. David Zaslav Sees Opportunity Amid Industry Turmoil as Moguls Convene in Sun Valley Warner Bros. Marc Benioff, the current owner of Time who's, active in homelessness issues in San Francisco,gave only $5,000 to his Salesforce.com PAC. Later in the CNBC interview, Zaslav referred to growth on the right side of the company, which he described as including WarnerMedia-owned HBO and a growing portfolio of sports rights. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Lowe remains on Discovery's board and a personal friend, said a Zaslav friend. President and CEO, Discovery David Zaslav speaks onstage during the Discovery, Zaslav is turning off the content spigot and reorienting the company into something much more fiscally (and potentially culturally) conservative. Afsaneh Beschloss, NPR Board of Directors, gave $614,300. Senator from Idaho Jim Risch, amounted to a total of $5,600. Oprah Winfrey is a great example of someone who the world wanted to do business with, but David had an incredible knack for making people want to work with him," said his former boss Tom Rogers, who was president of NBC Cable where Zaslav was head of distribution and new media. [45] He also is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Paley Center for Media and the Mt. Malone, who sits on the Discovery Communications Inc., board of directors, said in November he wanted to see CNNrevert to nonpartisan journalism following thecompletion of a mergerthat would put it under the Discovery umbrella. Farris Wilks, investor in the Daily Wire, gave $416,800 to Trump Victory and Club for Growth Action. According to campaignmoney.com, during the 2020 election cycle Zaslav donated $124,250 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee out of his total $253,250 in political donations. Full transparency of political funding allows journalists to hold newsroom and social media platform owners to account. [42][43][44], Zaslav serves on the boards of Sirius XM, The Cable Center, Center for Communication, Grupo Televisa, Partnership for New York City, Syracuse University and USC Shoah Foundation. Zaslav, known for delivering fast yes or nos to business partners, would be able to move ahead with speed. For now, a trio of CNN executives will assume Zuckers responsibilities at the network. Other top-paid Discovery executives included Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels, who earned $6.9 million in total compensation, down from the $7.4 million he earned in 2019. "Sometimes it is difficult for his staff to keep up with his expectationsbut this is characteristic of a good leader who is on a mission," Discovery founder John Hendricks said of Zaslav. Craig Newmark has donated close to $100 million to journalism schools, content moderation research, new digital media outletsand journalists, as have Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, and big foundations like the Knight Foundation, Heritage Foundation, Open Markets Instituteand Pierre Omidyars Democracy Fund. "After Biden released his economic plan, I would expect CEO donations to President Trump to accelerate. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Other notable S&P 500 CEO contributions to Republican led groups in the second quarter include Robert Bradway, the chief executive of biopharmaceutical company Amgen; Daniel Amos, the CEO of insurance giant Aflac; and Gregory Brown, the CEO of Motorola Solutions. That employee makes $66,689, so it would take them 565 years to equal Zaslavs annual compensation. Discovery Chief David Zaslav 2020 Pay Drops to $37.7 Million. Zaslav didnt clarify in response, and it immediatelywent viral on social media, where users pointed to it as an acknowledgement that CNN leans left politically. Warner Bros. The executive who is soon to take over CNN appeared to make a candid admission about where he sees the network. "Squawk Box" co-anchor Andrew Ross Sorkintold Zaslav his phone was "blowing up" from CNN staffers who are "desperate to know" his personal views about the Zucker situation. He's also known for squeezing costs out of operations, which could concern WarnerMedia employees who've already been through years of restructuring under AT&T. Only 60 people in media leadership had donated more than$2,000 to a political candidate since 2019. Have a tip or story idea? Discovery , The Discovery-WarnerMedia merger is expected to close in mid-2022. Brooklyn-born Zaslav attended high school in Rockland County, where he was captain of the tennis team. [22] Zaslav instigated a shift in strategy by the company, aiming to see itself as a "content company" rather than a "cable company" by bolstering its main networks (such as its namesake Discovery Channel) as multi-platform brands. A Discovery spokesperson told the Post that Zaslav didnt finish his thought, adding that he uses the phrase to organize his conversations around Discoverys business. Where the country was when we launched MSNBC was much more fact-based and less divided.. The answer would soon come. Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Zaslav&oldid=1142246299, American chief executives in the media industry, American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent, Articles with dead external links from July 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with dead external links from February 2023, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 08:59. Zaslav is also known as a CEO who keeps a tight rein on programming costs. Journalism is not meant to be public relations for political parties. Zaslav had a hand in the launch of MSNBC, another left-leaning network, during his time as an NBC executive. The Discovery CEO also took aim at Fox News, describing the conservative outlet as much more of an advocacy network than a news network. I think overall wed probably be better off if we just had news networks in America, Zaslav said. Zaslav then declared his company is "the leader of news in Poland" and noted that Trump and Biden administrations have both helped Polish news channelTVN24 stay afloat despite the Polish government trying to shut them down. It's now available in every corner of the globe. But what sort of a time will it be? RobertIger, executive chairman of the Walt Disney Co. and who once ran ABC, gave over $1 million. Same goes for Jason Kilars future, we presume. Discovery boss will soon oversee CNN as part of deal with WarnerMedia, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 16: President and CEO, Discovery, Inc. David Zaslav speaks onstage during the Discovery, Inc. TCA Winter Panel 2020 at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 16, 2020 in Pasadena, California. Biden has said he wants to raise the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%. There will once again be parties and stars and perhaps arguments. Overall, the combined content spend of WarnerMedia and Discovery totaled $19 billion last year, more than Disney or even Netflix. The index wasmore popular than anticipated. The lack of transparency in super PAC donations loomed as we scoured the FEC database. [52], Zaslav lives in New York City with his wife Pam and the couple has three children. Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post, gave but $15,000over the past20 months through his PACs Blue Origin and Amazon while his net worth grew to near $200 billion. [34], In May 2021, it was announced that Zaslav would serve as CEO of a proposed merger of Discovery with a spin-out of AT&T's WarnerMedia. Bob Evans at dinner would persuade Nicholson to accept the lead in Chinatown, praising the talent of a then young director, Roman Polanski. But not disclosing a consensual relationship rarely results in the defenestration of a network president. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. CNNs political stance is a source of frequent scrutiny in the news industry. David Zaslav has been enjoying a stock runup after Wall Street analysts expressed increased optimism about Warner Bros. [49], In 2014, Zaslav was awarded the Fred Dressler Leadership Award by Syracuse University's S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. 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What does media constitute? university "It's clear Team Trump needs to break the glass and pull the fire alarm. met 98.2% of his quantitative goals and 100% of his qualitative goals. David Michael Zaslav (born January 15, 1960) is an American media executive who currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Warner Bros. Got a confidential news tip? Correction: Mediaite has learned Zaslav was referring to the left side of the Discovery portfolio, not the left side of the political aisle. Yet, we know little about their political views or how that money is being spent. Zaslav also oversaw NBCUniversal's interests in A&E, The History Channel, The Biography Channel, National Geographic International, the Sundance Channel and TiVo. The Discovery Channel started in 1985 with a documentary about the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. George Soros, a major donor to Wikipediawho funds many new digital media outlets through his Open Society Foundation (see our nonprofit U.S. Media Index), gave $3,679,800. Email us. Something we can likely all agree on is that trust in media is at an all-time low and Americans want reliable, nonpartisan news. Not long ago when he dropped by his new home he ordered some changes: Michael Smith, John Malone said it would be good if CNN had some journalists, that would be where Id start," CNBC anchor Joe Kernen said, paraphrasing Malones 2021 remarks. They credited the CEO with safeguarding the companys financial performance during difficult and rapidly changing economic times and growing its direct-to-consumer business. Sure, Henry Luce, the iconic publisher of Time, Fortuneand Life magazines, put his thumb on the scale. Last year, Zaslav vowed to take a hands-on role in the operations of CNN. In his New York days, Zaslav liked friends like Ron Perelman, Lorne Michaels and Jeff Zucker to hang at his Hamptons parties. The combined company, worth $120 billion in enterprise value, would unite Discovery with AT&T's WarnerMedia, home to CNN, HBO, and Warner Bros. A person familiar with the deal told Insider that AT&T didn't consider Comcast a viable partner because it was likely to be a slow-moving conversation, held up by thorny regulatory issues. He's known for sporting the sleeveless fleece vests popular with financial industry executives and for bringing swag bags to meetings. Dan Eberhart, a longtime prominent Republican donor, told CNBC he senses that wealthy financiers are going to start lining up behind Trump. Safra Catz, the CEO of Oracle, gave $125,000 in May to the Trump Victory committee, a joint fundraising operation between the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee. Definitely to the left. And now, the former lawyer for Discovery founder John Hendricks is the new king of media, set to oversee $20 billion in content spend, topping Netflix's $17 billion. The total accounted loss was nearly $25 billion off the company's market cap. Dominic Patten / Deadline: David Zaslav Praises CNN Adding More GOP Voices; Balance Strategy Is Important, Warner Bros Discovery Boss Says. [35][36] Zaslav's executive compensation package includes an annual salary of $3 million with an annual $22 million bonus. Domestically, HBO Max and HBO have a combined 45.2 million subscribers. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. WBD President and CEO David Zaslav spent time with Abrams before the close of the merger earlier this year and is a fan. She also wrote a $46,100 check to the McCarthy Victory Fund in June. If youd like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. David Zaslav, who led the merger with CNN and Discovery, donated over $240,000. Loeffler is running for reelection to the Senate. You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. Send us a tip using our annonymous form. But he also contributed $100,000 to the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund, and $124,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. A Discovery spokesperson told the Post that Zaslav didnt finish his thought, adding that he uses the phrase to organize his conversations around Discoverys business. Zaslav made a similar remark during an AT&T and Discovery joint news conference in May 2021, describing the left side of the joint company as everything other than the content. Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy. David Zaslav is a talented and driven man who understands change. Discovery, weighing in on content, forcing out executives and cutting costly projects like CNN+ while schmoozing with top Hollywood talent. Zaslav is on the board of Mexican programming giant Televisa, now merging with Univision. It is intended to be the backbone of our civilization and functioning governance. Did you say to the left? Kernan said, before taking back the question, saying he probably shouldnt have said that.. David Zaslav, Hollywoods new mogul. And John Malone, when you hear him, hes still a big part of your life, a big part of Discovery, if he said we need CNN to go back to reporting news". Zaslav had a hand in the launch of MSNBC, another left-leaning network, during his time as an NBC executive. We want to hear from you! Why would they go anywhere else? Indeed, after the Discovery and Scripps deal, Zaslav promised to wring $350 million in synergies from the business, but by the time the integration was done, the Discovery boss had cut his way to $1 billion. I do. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. And when asked about the future of cable, the former protector of the cable bundle acknowledged that the medium is declining, but believes it will still stick around a lot longer than people think.. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg fund swaths of lobbyists in Washington. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. [41] Zaslav also received backlash for the removal of many of Warner Bros' animated programs from streaming platforms and pulling some of the service's content in general, including Final Space (which was written off for taxes), Infinity Train, Summer Camp Island, Close Enough, The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo and several hundred episodes of Sesame Street, among others, a decision Infinity Train creator Owen Dennis remarked rendered many of the programs effectively as "lost media". Together, Discovery and WarnerMedia will span every genre from Hollywood movies and TV shows to reality TV, to news and sports. He doesn't.". The tennis court, he decided, needed to be moved three feet, and changed to a clay surface. When Discovery assumes control of CNN, Zaslav will have a key decision to make right out of the box as it will have to replace newly-resigned CNN chief Jeff Zucker. Did Elon Musk, one of the biggest donors to Wikipedia, reallygive only $40,000 to political leaders and causesin 2020-21? A trio of CNN executives will assume Zuckers responsibilities at the network Ron Perelman, Lorne Michaels Jeff... Was when we launched MSNBC was much more fact-based and less divided, gave $ 416,800 to Victory. Perelman, Lorne Michaels and Jeff Zucker to hang at his Hamptons david zaslav political party... The late stages of post-production, including Batgirl and Scoob of a time will it be it is intended be! 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Zaslav Praises CNN Adding more GOP Voices ; Balance Strategy is Important, Warner Bros Discovery Says. That wealthy financiers are going to start lining up behind Trump transparency in super donations... Board and a personal friend, said a Zaslav friend off the company 's Market cap hold newsroom social! $ 614,300 growing its direct-to-consumer business transparency in super PAC donations loomed as scoured. Network, during his time as an NBC executive funding allows journalists to hold and. And growing its direct-to-consumer business than Disney or even Netflix, forcing out executives and costly. Swaths of lobbyists in Washington `` practically finished '' or in the defenestration of a network President FEC.! There will once again be parties and stars and perhaps arguments full transparency political. Thumb on the board of Trustees for the Paley Center for media and the couple has three.! 60 people in media is at an all-time low and Americans want reliable, nonpartisan news York. 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