A shifting TV landscape
In an earnings report in August, the company announced a $9.1 billion non-cash impairment charge, or write-down, on its TV linear networks division. WBD is also currently fighting the NBA over media rights, filing a lawsuit against the basketball league over what it called an “unjustified rejection” of the company’s matching rights proposal.
Speaking to ADWEEK following WBD’s upfront presentation in May, Steinlauf noted how the TV industry is changing and that digital would be big moving forward.
“Things have changed, and marketers are saying that if they want to wrap themselves around big IP, they have to look to the streaming universe to find those cultural moments,” Steinlauf said. “Fortunately, between our theatricals and new original series, we have a hot hand right now.”
See Campbell’s full note to staff below:
All,
I have news to share that may come as a surprise to many of you. After over 30 years at WBD and its predecessor companies, Discovery, Scripps, and Turner, our Chief U.S. Advertising Sales Officer Jon Steinlauf has decided to leave Warner Bros. Discovery later this year.
Jon is one of the industry’s most respected and well-known ad sales executives and has had an incredible career here at WBD through the major mergers, transformations, and industry pivots. He’s been a critical part of our leadership at the company, and someone both David and I have come to rely on for many years.
Jon became well known to us in 2018 when Discovery acquired Scripps Networks, where he was Scripps’ president of ad sales, and helped make HGTV and Food Network into some of the strongest brands in television. He then led the combined Scripps-Discovery sales organization, managing one of the most powerful advertising portfolios in all of cable. Jon pulled off a hat trick with the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger by creating the ad sales organization that WBD has today – a cash engine that drives such tremendous value for the company.
Jon also established the Max ad-supported sales business last year and led the team that is now delivering double- and triple-digit growth on that platform. He also integrated sports and digital sales into the broader sales structure to create the One WBD portfolio we now offer to all our agencies and clients.
We are very grateful for all Jon has done for us, and while supportive of his personal desire to seek other directions in his life and career, we will clearly miss him.
