Warner Bros. Discovery Lays Off 100 Employees as Part of Previously Planned Ad Sales Downsizing
Warner Bros. Discovery enacted 100 layoffs Tuesday as part of a planned downsizing of the company’s ad sales departments that had been in the works since Discovery closed its merger with WarnerMedia in April, Variety has confirmed.
These cuts are part of a previously reported and expected 30% reduction overall across the ad sales division, a sector of the merged company with many redundancies, in the coming weeks. However, not all of the exits will be layoffs, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation. An undisclosed number of those departures will be negotiated deals, while others will be retirements.
More from Variety
'Batgirl' Cancellation Controversy 'Blown Out of Proportion,' Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Says
DC Chief Job Still Open After Dan Lin, Warner Bros. Discovery End Negotiations
Karen Grinthal, Veteran Ad Exec, to Exit Warner Bros. Discovery
The layoffs set in motion Tuesday are the latest in a string of moves made by Warner Bros. Discovery in an attempt to fulfill the promise made by CEO David Zaslav and his exec team to find $3 billion in cost-saving synergies in the first two years after the merger. The most high profile so far, aside from other layoffs within Warner Bros. Discovery, was the decision that “Batgirl,” the $90 million Warner Bros./DC movie starring Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, would not be released theatrically, on HBO Max, or anywhere else.
Among other cost-cutting moves under the company, the planned HBO Max HBO Max quietly removed several Warner Bros. movies that were streaming exclusively on the service along with about 200 older episodes of “Sesame Street” and some original series.
For Q2, Warner Bros. Discovery recorded restructuring charges that included content impairments of $496 million and content development write-offs of $329 million, which “resulted from a global strategic review of content following the merger,” the company disclosed in its 10-Q filing with the SEC.
Best of Variety
'The Sopranos' Gets the Funko Pop Treatment in New Collectibles Release
From 'The Sandman' to 'Blonde': Books Made Into Movies and TV Series That You Should Read
Jennette McCurdy's Provocative Book 'I'm Glad My Mom Died' Is Already a No. 1 Bestseller
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
