Warner Bros. Discovery stops the development of new scripted shows at TNT and TBS. Several years back, AT&T acquired WarnerMedia, giving the telecom giant ownership of everything previously under the Time Warner banner, including CNN, Turner Sports, Warner Bros. film studio, HBO, TBS, and TNT. Last year, it was announced that AT&T would merge WarnerMedia with Discovery, combining the former’s premium entertainment, sports, and news with the latter’s leading reality television programming under one single media company – Warner Bros. Discovery.
Since the merger was officially approved by shareholders earlier this year, the company’s CEO David Zaslav has moved swiftly to put his vision in place. Zaslav reportedly has major changes planned for DC, one of Warner Bros.’ most valuable properties, which includes a significant overhaul of the studio’s film and TV properties. Zaslav has also vowed to find $3 billion in savings across the new company post-merger, which has sparked worries about layoffs within the company and cuts to programming under the new Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella.
According to Variety, Warner Bros. Discovery is stopping the development of new scripted shows at TNT and TBS. According to insiders, the company is currently devising a new strategy for the two networks, as well as truTV, which primarily focuses on reality television. The report does not include any information on what this could mean for TBS and TNT’s current lineup of scripted programming.
These cuts certainly call TBS and TNT’s current slate of scripted shows into question, but for the time being, it doesn’t look like they will be affected. This recent decision only seems to apply to the development of new scripted content. Theoretically, it should be business-as-usual for the network’s returning series, of which TNT only has two – Snowpiercer, which was renewed for season 4 last year, and Animal Kingdom, which is entering its sixth and final season this June.
Meanwhile, TBS still has The Last OG, Miracle Workers, Chad, and American Dad. Both networks have been gradually reducing their scripted content in the past few years, so it doesn’t come as a big surprise that Warner Bros. Discovery is now putting an end to development entirely. The WarnerMedia-Discovery merger has always been viewed as an attempt to up the company’s streaming game, so perhaps these cuts to the cable networks will allow Warner to reallocate resources into scripted programming for HBO Max or whatever new streaming service the merger may birth.
