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Warner Bros. Discovery will split into two public companies by next year, calving off its cable operations from its streaming service. Warner Bros. Discovery said Monday that Streaming & Studios will include Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO, and HBO Max, as well as their film and television libraries. The Global Networks company will include CNN, TNT Sports in the US, and Discovery, top free-to-air channels across Europe, and digital products such as the Discovery+ streaming service and Bleacher Report. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav will serve as CEO of Streaming & Studios. Gunnar Wiedenfels, chief financial officer of Warner Bros. Discovery, will serve as CEO of Global Networks. Both will continue in their current roles until the separation. The split is expected to be completed by the middle of next year.
Charles Dolan, who founded some of the most prominent US media companies including Home Box Office Inc and Cablevision Systems Corp., has died at age 98, according to a news report. A statement issued Saturday by his family said Dolan died of natural causes, Newsday reported late Saturday. It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved father and patriarch, Charles Dolan, the visionary founder of HBO and Cablevision, the statement said. Newsday is owned by Dolan's son, Patrick Dolan, following Cablevision's purchase of Newsday Media Group in 2008, the newspaper reported. Dolan's legacy in cable broadcasting includes the 1972 launch of Home Box Office, commonly known as HBO, and founding Cablevision in 1973 and the American Movie Classics television station in 1984. He also launched News 12 in New York City, the first 24-hour cable channel for local news in the US, Newsday reported. Dolan, whose primary home was in Cove Neck Village on Long Island in New York, a
"Game of Thrones" author George R R Martin has shared with fans that he has three animated projects, set in the world of "A Song of Ice & Fire", currently under various stages of development with HBO. The 75-year-old writer, in his new blog post, shared his love for Netflix's animated series "Blue Eye Samurai" and then pivoted to share updates on the new shows. "As it happens, HBO and I have our own animated projects, set in the world of A SONG OF ICE & FIRE. None of them have been greenlit yet, but I think we are getting close to taking the next step with a couple of them," Martin shared, adding they began with four ideas for animated show but two of them currently stand shelved. He, however, hoped that the projects will find a life as "nothing is ever dead for good in Hollywood". The storyline for the two spin off projects is still under wraps Talking about the third show in the development, Martin wrote, "Work on the other two animated projects continues apace, however... ..
Late-night talk shows are returning after a five-month absence brought on by the Hollywood writers strike, while actors will begin talks that could end their own long work walk-off. CBS's The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! and NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon were the first shows to leave the air when the writers strike began on May 2, and now will be among the first to return on Monday night. Comedian John Oliver got his first take on the strike out, exuberantly returning Sunday night to his Last Week Tonight show on HBO and delivering full-throated support for the strike. Oliver cheerily delivered a recap of stories from the last five months before turnings serious, calling the strike an immensely difficult time for all those in the industry. To be clear, this strike happened for good reasons. Our industry has seen its workers severely squeezed in recent years, Oliver said. So, the writers guild went to strike and thankfully won. But, it took
Union leaders and Hollywood studios reached a tentative agreement Sunday to end a historic screenwriters strike after nearly five months, though no deal is yet in the works for striking actors. The Writers Guild of America announced the deal in a joint statement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group that represents studios, streaming services and production companies in negotiations. WGA has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP, the guild said in an email to members. This was made possible by the enduring solidarity of WGA members and extraordinary support of our union siblings who joined us on the picket lines for over 146 days. The three-year contract agreement -- settled on after five marathon days of renewed talks by WGA and AMPTP negotiators that was joined at times by studio executives -- must be approved by the guild's board and members before the strike officially ends. In a longer message from the guild shared by members on social