European Commission approves merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia

Discovery has received clearance from the European Commission for the acquisition of WarnerMedia from AT&T.

Discovery expects the closing of the WarnerMedia transaction to occur in mid-2022, subject to approval by Discovery shareholders and other customary closing conditions, including other regulatory approvals.

Warner Bros. Discovery will be the brand around which the WarnerMedia and Discovery catalogues will be united. The name seeks to “honour, celebrate and elevate” the “world’s most storied” creative studio and unite it with Discovery’s non-fiction content. The tagline chosen by the new company includes the iconic line from The Maltese Falcon: “The stuff that dreams are made of”. It represents, according to the brand, “a further homage to the rich legacy of Warner Bros. and the focus of what the proposed company will be”.

David Zaslav, the Discovery president and CEO, and the future CEO of the new company, sees the European Commission’s approval “as a key milestone toward completing our proposed transaction with AT&T.” “Today we move one important step closer to creating Warner Bros. Discovery, a premier entertainment company that will be one of the world’s leading investors in premium content and one positioned to serve consumers with what we believe will be the most complete content offering under one roof,” he added.

200,000 hours of content

Warner Bros. Discovery will feature 200,000 hours of content and will bring together more than 100 brands, including HBO, Warner Bros., Discovery, DC, CNN, WB Games, Turner Sports, Cartoon Network, HGTV, Food Network, TNT, TBS, Turner Classic Movies, Wizarding World, Adult Swim, Eurosport, Magnolia, TLC, Animal Planet and ID, among others.

As of today, Warner Bros. Discovery has already revealed that, beyond serving as a hub for all these brands, the union will allow them to increase investment in original content and programming; create opportunities for underrepresented and independent storytellers; and drive greater investment in “high quality, family-friendly” non-fiction content.