(Axiox) CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery to split into two companies

(Axiox) CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery to split into two companies, and 

(CNN) Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two companies.

Zaslav’s approach to the problems of CNN  was threefold:

One has to admire Zaslav’s commitment –, though the concept of the wild duck, the value of outliers as harbingers of the future, did not appear to resonate with him. Perhaps the split, with Zaslav as head of WBD Streaming & Studios, will land him back in his comfort zone of what movies have become –scripts, and talent — traditional fictional IP with streaming delivery, and derivative video games.

WBD Global Networks, which includes CNN, TNT Sports U.S. and Discovery, is touted as a split-off of the traditional OTA and cable networks, but it is more than that. It is also the nonfiction part of WBD. Fiction is more attractive than nonfiction. WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels will have to simultaneously innovate while treading water with cable and the networks, service a $37B  debt, or ride the stock down to the floor, hopefully supported by a 20% stake in Streaming & Studios.

I would throw Wiedenfels a life preserver, but he has a reputation as a ruthless bean counter. Quoting (yahoo/finance) Who Is Gunnar Wiedenfels? WBD’s Cost-Cutting Finance Exec Picked as CEO of New TV Networks Spin-Off Comprising CNN, TBS, TNT, Discovery+ and More,

As CFO at Warner Bros. Discovery, Wiedenfels has been the face of the cost-cutting that has ensued since David Zaslav and the Discovery gang took the reins of the merged Discovery-WarnerMedia in Burbank in April 2022. As such, Wiedenfels often been the focus of frustration among employees in his role as the instigator of belt-tightening and other massive changes including a series of layoffs.

This may or may not be responsible for an organization which is unable to correctly state the weight of a moose (see SLOPPY CNN: New video shows Ukraine striking deep inside Russia; The Difference Between a Rocket and a Gun ) but it can’t help. It cannot explain the persistence of a  format — not just at CNN, but almost universally in TV news — invented by Edward R. Murrow in 1938. The CBS World News Roundup  was actually useful back then. Now it is often reproduced in a mechanical, perfunctory way as the staple template, still, for many slots, in the form of artificial conversation.

The original broadcasts are fascinating,  because the participants themselves were being informed at the same time as the broadcast audience. The modern simulacrum begins with the anchor’s query to a reporter or co-anchor, e.g., “Loretta, tell us about the corn syrup train derailment”, followed by  exactly two head nods by Loretta who can’t hear anything yet, followed unerringly by tasteful descriptions of the two people who drowned in the corn syrup, the panicked experiences of the locals who are delighted at their 15 minutes of fame, and a cut back to the anchor. CNN anchors are deservedly at the top of their  profession, hampered by this hackneyed adherence.

Now for some sketchy free advice, along the lines of CNN Shuffles the Lineup; Front Page Yellow Snow:

  • Apart from excellence in politics, the rest is not very satisfying, except to  the person who will pay only four bucks a month for news. That category of customer is small. Either they want quality or they want nothing, or they want the NY Post.
  • The touting of “experts”, where CNN excels in word count, has, with a shift in culture over time, come to be condescending. “Here’s what to know” deserves examination as well.
  • Innovate, honestly, not via AI retreads. Journalism is a culture, and a good one, but it is not immune to the need for renewal.
  • Crack the window open a little, so the wild ducks can fly in.

Does Wiedenfels have the skill of a Houdini to escape his cement boots? Or will he have to dig out the Turner Doomsday Video? The whole world is watching. 

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”

 Michelangelo

***Turner Doomsday Video***