San Francisco, Aug 16: Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has laid off nearly 70 workers, or 14 percent of its workforce, at HBO and HBO Max streaming services. The staff is being fired under HBO and HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys, impacting 70 employees, reports The New York Times. “Unscripted and live action family programming for HBO Max, the streaming service, were most affected,” the report said late on Monday. Other cuts impacted HBO Max’s casting, acquisitions, and international departments.
The latest round of layoffs comes after AT&T’s WarnerMedia officially merged with Discovery, Inc. in April. The deal saw AT&T receive $43 billion in a combination of cash debt securities and debt retention. Additionally, shareholders of AT&T received 0.241917 shares of WBD for each share of AT&T common stock they held at the close. As a result, AT&T shareholders received 1.7 billion shares of WBD, representing 71 percent of WBD shares on a fully diluted basis. The combination creates a premier standalone global media and entertainment company, Warner Bros. Discovery or “WBD”.Warner Bros. Discovery earlier shut down the CNN+ streaming service within a month after the launch, costing the company nearly $300 million. The new entity will create and distribute the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of content, brands, and franchises across television, film, and streaming.
