David Zaslav on TNT Without the NBA and the Disney-Max pack

David Zaslav

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Will TNT survive without the NBA? David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, seems convinced that this will be the case.

While acknowledging that the company is still in talks with the NBA about a new rights deal (the league appears ready to grant packages to Disney, NBC and Amazon, although WBD has “corresponding” rights), Zaslav said the company was trying to strengthen the sports offering on its channels.

“We took a trip here to the United States,” Zaslav said. “We added hockey with (NHL commissioner) Gary Batman; We added a summer of NASCAR; We just added college football; Add to that March Madness, the baseball playoffs and American football that we offer, it’s a very strong offering for consumers that they can watch on TNT in the United States all year long. year, and that’s our job, is to continue to look, how can we continue to nurture an audience that loves sports on TNT?

“We worked very strategically to ensure that we had a robust sports offering for each of our sports channels in the United States,” he continued.

Of course, Zaslav also touted WBD’s international sports offering, which includes European rights to the Olympics and numerous soccer rights.

He also addressed the Disney-Hulu-Max bundle and upcoming sports streaming service with Disney and Fox, describing the deals as churn fighters.

“For the bundle to really be effective, when you go in, you need to be able to browse the full offering of the program,” he said. “So, you know, my grandkids might be watching a Disney+ movie, but when they’re done, they’re going to want to watch it. Harry Potterand then at night you might want to watch Succession. This is why its fluidity is important.

“We found that when you aggregate other content that more family members like – at a very basic level – the more often you watch the product, the more family members watch the product, the lower the churn rate,” he continued.

And he addressed the issue of consolidation, telling the Bernstein conference that as his company improves its balance sheet, WBD plans to be “opportunistic” but also “disciplined.”

“I think there will probably be some consolidation. There are a lot of players, a lot of players losing a lot of money,” he said. “One of the reasons we’ve really fought to grow our free cash flow and pay down our debt is to be able, as we expand globally, as we struggle to grow our business , that we are a healthy company and that over time, in the next two or three years, I expect there to be opportunities. Some players will want to get out of the sector. Some of them will look to consolidate their streaming businesses with others. And so I think we’ll look opportunistic during this time.

And of course, there is an entertainment company whose future is currently very much in question.

In a flash when asked to react to single words, Zaslav was asked to respond to “Paramount.”

“A tremendous narrative legacy,” he replied.