Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s lunch at the Food Network Kitchen after its upfront pitch to advertisers has become \u201can annual ritual,\u201d in the words of Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer Bruce Campbell.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s edition, however, unfolded in the shadow of the pending $110 billion acquisition of WBD by David Ellison\u2019s Paramount Skydance. The industry-altering deal, which is due to close by September 30 barring an 11th-hour legal challenge, gave the event an undeniably valedictory feel. \u201cWelcome to the Last Supper,\u201d one waggish WBD staffer joked as guests arrived.<\/p>\n
More from Deadline<\/p>\n
M&A deals are due to put assets like the Turner networks, HBO and Warner Bros. in the hands of a fourth corporate parent in eight years, earned a couple of mentions (direct or otherwise) during the company\u2019s presentation. Co-head of sales Bobby Voltaggio got off the best line by any exec at the upfronts<\/a> when he said he wanted to address \u201cthe Ellison \u2013 I mean, the elephant in the room.\u201d Leslie Jones, plugging her new HGTV series Roast My Rental, rattled off the names of a few of the two dozen cable networks on the roster (which ballooned after the 2022 merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery). Speaking for many in the audience, she wondered aloud, \u201cHow many channels y\u2019all got?!\u201d<\/p>\n Campbell\u00a0referenced Voltaggio\u2019s \u201cFreudian slip\u201d in a brief toast to colleagues, advertisers and members of the press at the lunch. \u201cThis is a year of change for us,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I hope you saw today everything we have to offer, both in terms of our advertising products, the breadth and depth of all of our media properties, but also how hard we want to work to earn your business. So it is going to be a year of change, but this team is up for the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n One senior WBD exec Deadline spoke with at the lunch said he was asked by colleagues recently what would happen if the deal somehow didn\u2019t close. \u201cI told them, \u2018This deal is happening. There is no doubt about that.’\u201d<\/p>\n While a few international regulators still need to sign off, WBD shareholders have given their approval, and financing arrangements have been finalized. Two X factors are also widely assumed to be in Paramount\u2019s favor. One is the longtime alliance between deal backer Larry Ellison, father of Paramount CEO David Ellison, and President Trump. The other is the role of Makan Delrahim, who led the government\u2019s lawsuit against AT&T\u2019s acquisition of Time Warner while heading up the Department of Justice\u2019s antitrust division, is now Paramount\u2019s chief legal officer, helping steer the company through the regulatory process.<\/p>\n Without wading into politics, the WBD exec mentioned the debate months ago about whether Netflix\u2019s earlier bid for the company\u2019s studio-and-streaming unit, would have passed muster with regulators. \u201cI always told everyone that both deals were going to be approved,\u201d the exec said.<\/p>\n At roughly the same time as WBD\u2019s upfront at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden, Paramount exec Dennis\u00a0Cinelli was a short distance away in Midtown Manhattan. He was making his first appearance at an investor conference since being named chief financial officer in January.<\/p>\n \u201cWe continue to build momentum toward close,\u201d Cinelli said at the event hosted by research firm MoffettNathanson. \u201cThis is a big undertaking, but we\u2019ve been planning for it. No. 1, the culture around this is different from prior mergers. You\u2019re talking about company that\u2019s owner\/operator-led. The CEO is the largest shareholder of the company. \u2026 The leadership team is incentivized. It\u2019s very much like in Silicon Valley, where everyone\u2019s an owner of the company. That is a different lens than other media mergers.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking of Silicon Valley-style incentives, one notable figure was absent from the upfront lunch, a gathering he had attended in the past: David Zaslav. The CEO of WBD stands to collect as much as $886 million in total compensation once the deal is completed, on top of a meteoric payday of $165 million<\/a> for 2025 thanks to stock options included in an amended pay deal. In the same special meeting at which the merger was OK\u2019d, 82% of shareholders voted against Zaslav\u2019s compensation package<\/a>, though he will still collect as the vote is non-binding. <\/p>\n Best of Deadline<\/p>\n Sign up for Deadline’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warner Bros. 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