Head of Warner Bros. Discovery David Zaslav Visits Poland

Wirtualnemedia.pl | April 17, 2023 

CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery David Zaslav will be in Poland this week. He is scheduled to meet with, among others, managers and employees of TVN Warner Bros. Discovery.

This will be Zaslav’s first visit to Poland as CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. On Monday, he will meet with those working at the TVN headquarters of Warner Bros. Discovery at 166 Wiertnicza St. Employees from Warner’s former companies in our country also moved there at the end of the year.

Zaslav’s visit to the Polish branch had been prepared for many months. Nothing is known about Zaslav’s meetings with representatives of public institutions, for example. As we have unofficially established, the WBD CEO’s arrival in Poland is mainly of a private nature.

After the merger of Discovery and WarnerMedia last April, the Polish market of Warner Bros. Discovery was separated from the EMEA (Europe, Africa and Middle East) structure. – The separation of Poland as an independent market shows how important it is for Warner Bros. Discovery and heralds a very dynamic development and a unique offer for Polish viewers,” she commented last April. Katarzyna Kieli, president and managing director of Warner Bros. Discovery in Poland and CEO of TVN.

The broadcaster is currently awaiting the granting of a satellite license for the HGTV Polska station. The current one expires in the second half of June, and the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) is still delaying its decision on the matter. Applications for the extension of concessions for TVN or TVN Turbo are already waiting in line.

Shares for TVN employees

TVN has been part of an American company since 2015. The station was bought by Scripps Newtorks Interactive, while that company became part of the Discovery conglomerate in 2018. In turn, in 2022, Discovery and WarnerMedia merged to form Warner Bros. Discovery. New corporate regulations were gradually introduced at the Polish company – for example, “Discovery’s Conflict of Interest Policy” appeared at TVN, and during the pandemic at the headquarters on Wiertnicza Street, offices were eliminated, replaced by open spaces with reserved desks.

TVN employees are also being rewarded with shares in the American owner. Shares in US-listed Warner Bros. Discovery were awarded to some employees in March 2023. These are so-called fidelity grants, or grants for fidelity. At the earliest, after a year, some of the received securities can be sold.

Who is David Zaslav?

David Zaslav first worked as a lawyer in a New York law firm, then took up media. He spent 18 years at NBC, where he developed a portfolio of cable channels, including CNBC and MSNBC. In 2006, he began heading Discovery Inc. During his tenure, the company acquired Eurosport and then Scripps Newtorks Interactive. Zalslav currently serves on the board of Warner Bros. Discovery. His compensation package totaled $246.6 million in 2021.

In 2021, the TVN Group posted a net profit of PLN 551 million despite a 29 percent increase in operating expenses. The broadcaster’s advertising revenue increased by 10.7 percent, while the number of full-time employees rose by nearly 600 to 2,200. The company paid a dividend of 1.3 billion zlotys.

In the fourth quarter of 2022. Warner Bros. Discovery, with revenues down 11 percent to $11 billion, reported a net loss of $2.1 billion. TV stations and movie studios remain profitable, while streaming platforms Discovery+ and HBO Max, whose customer base grew by 1.1 million to 96.1 million for the quarter, posted an EBITDA loss of more than $200 million.