|
Post by mattpricetime on Apr 14, 2022 20:09:54 GMT -5
Hello, fellow Scooby Addicts. Been away for undisclosed reasons but figured i'd make a new thread here to cover the latest chain of events that could impact Scooby and friends.
So far, there hasn't been too much in terms of surprises but we don't know much more than we did earlier because some stuff just is a mystery.
So for the basics.
1. Warner Bros Discovery is the new company name.
2. The executive management is mostly Discovery people. Most of the people who were calling the shots at Warner Bros executive during the AT&T era are either gone or on their way out. Controversial leader Jason Kilar (who this merger was discussed behind his back) is out and Discovery doesn't seem to care much to keep his people around.
3. ALL linear channels are now under the jurisdiction of the person who was managing the ones owned by Discovery.
4. Plans to cutback and streamline which was a point AT&T was working on is something that is still in the plans going forward.
Now the major mystery we don't know is still the very basic fact Discovery's executives are primarily used to reality and documentary tv. How they will handle fictional and other content is really still something we don't know how it's going to go.
The fact that the channels were quickly sent under the Discovery person is a good indicator you can except all the Warnermedia channels to start looking more like Discovery channels soon. However now the two libraries combined gives that person one of the largest libraries of content on the planet to play with. Their world is most certainly looking very exciting.
Within the animation world, i would expect some of things we expected to be AT&T's long term plans are still likely to happen once the smoke clears. Discovery pretty much has channels as windows into certain subjects. I kinda doubt there's going to be any chance Cartoon Network is dropped now. But i wouldn't be surprised if Discovery wants CN, Boomerang, Adult Swim, Toonami and Cartoonito as all blocks on one linear channel as a part of a future consolidation.
Until we get some more leaks and more news though, this is all mostly some guess work.
|
|
|
Post by Ark on Apr 14, 2022 22:30:51 GMT -5
I wouldn't mind a Scooby episode where they do an underwater documentary-- maybe a whole series like that? I was scared of recent changes, but there's more Scooby merch right now than I've seen in years. Just picked up Hallmark stickers today! Here's to hoping this is a good change.
|
|
|
Post by mattpricetime on Apr 15, 2022 20:23:08 GMT -5
It would be interesting if subject matter from properties Discovery did start being used in more fictional stories. But that's one of those mysterious things we have to wait and see.
For anyone who doesn't know, Discovery channels are mostly scheduled as binge watch channels on mostly one subject with heavy ads for the streaming service where you can pick from a larger library than what's on the channel that day. The schedules lean to the series in current production but tossing on reruns of old shows or specials do pop up as a part of their schedules at times of the year. Outside of Cable News, a bunch of the Discovery networks have some of the larger audiences still tuning in for what may very well mostly be reruns.
I think plenty of us would consider that kind of system merged with the old Cartoon Network would be a good step forward. Where the Cartoon Network you turn on tv is giving you a window into the animation offerings WB owns that you can stream or buy. I would think that is a likely end game there barring some situation i'm overlooking.
|
|
|
Post by Ark on Apr 25, 2022 9:36:11 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by mattpricetime on May 19, 2022 13:32:42 GMT -5
One of the major but not surprising announcements is that Tom Ascheim is also leaving. Now people misreporting and blaming him has been the new internet meme. So let's just quickly summarize who he was.
The position he occupied was created primarily when they put Cartoon Network. Boomerang and Turner Classic Movies under WB. Ascheim primarily got his job because he was a long time co-worker with Ann Sarnoff who was head of WB. Ascheim's position pretty much became irrelevant once AT&T put all the cable channels under WB.
From then on it seems Sarnoff wanted the television side to have three heads that would report to her. One head to look after scripted tv, one head for unscripted tv and one head for animation. Ascheim seemed to be the guy pegged to be the animation head but they never bothered to officially announce such positions. Exactly how much hands on he ever was i don't know given every animation announcement during his tenure was a co-fronted announcement with people more hands on from the studios.
But with Sarnoff out, the reality that he also is leaving shouldn't be surprising to anyone.
|
|
|
Post by Ark on May 26, 2022 16:27:28 GMT -5
Twitter has confirmed he is writing for the new Mystery Pups (2024) show.
|
|
|
Post by mattpricetime on Jun 2, 2022 20:17:31 GMT -5
Minor note but the guy who people had pegged to have been that "scripted live action" head in that above mentioned organization is also leaving. He was still in charge of programming on TBS/TNT/Trutv. From what I gather he was one of the few then-current Turner culture people that survived AT&T's reorganizing.
From other sources it seemed he was still operating on the old metric, not the one Ascheim was pretty much reiterating every press release he was a part of.
|
|
|
Post by Doo on Oct 7, 2022 7:58:54 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Ark on Oct 7, 2022 19:26:38 GMT -5
Holy cow. I'm a bit worried about Warner... this isn't the first time they did a merger that blew up in their face (AOL dialup sound).
|
|
|
Post by wileyk209 on Oct 7, 2022 23:08:44 GMT -5
Holy cow. I'm a bit worried about Warner... this isn't the first time they did a merger that blew up in their face (AOL dialup sound). Don't forget the merger they also attempted 55 years ago...
|
|
|
Post by mattpricetime on Oct 14, 2022 12:47:46 GMT -5
That is a pretty big number to mislead by, and you know probably wasn't an accident.
Jury is still out in general here because it really is such an unexpected alignment, and truthfully it appears Discovery people leak far less than AT&T people. So i really can't in confidence say for sure how some things are looking to go.
|
|
|
Post by mattpricetime on Oct 28, 2022 0:28:44 GMT -5
In the big news that is not a shock, it has finally happened that Warner Bros Animation and Cartoon Network Studios are finally one again. Which I said was clearly in AT&T's plans before they kinda gave up when they realized it was time to bail ship. For those of us who have our issues with the old days this is one of those important step forward. (And really you had the same guy running both for over what a year now, how did you not realize this was coming?) I would imagine Williams Street is going to become a subsidy soon as well, as they only need one animation studio that can do multiple styles but it does make sense to have a sub leader to that brand. Either way I fully expect Register and Ouwuleen will continue to be the major execs going forward. Given how much Discovery loves each network to have a theme, (as such it already leaked TNT is becoming their sports network) Cartoon Network itself is more than likely staying. But channel rearranging and streaming rearranging is probably soon coming next. And I fully support putting Boomerang down and reintegrating archive content all back on one channel again. I would also think one streaming platform is sufficient but whether HBO Max can handle all the animation content they want available at once is something i'm not sure is possible.
While in the bigger picture obviously we are considering this a positive because it's the permanent ending of the problems the split in 2001 lead to. However obviously plenty of hardworking people found themselves out of a job from this. So sympathy there is deserved. But hopefully once the channel and studio are streamlined and start heading back upwards in each department, they can afford to expand out more again.
|
|
|
Post by Ark on Feb 5, 2023 11:20:30 GMT -5
Wasn't TNT a sports network in the late '90s? I remember TBS advertising for basketball and tennis on TNT back in the day. Not a dedicated channel but still.
And yes, if they put Boomerang back into regular programming and merged it with HBO streaming, that couldn't be a bad thing at this point.
|
|
|
Post by scoobnick on Feb 5, 2023 22:30:22 GMT -5
Yes it was. TNt sports was a thing. not any more, of course.
|
|