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David Zaslav's stunning decision to axe CNN+ less than a month after it launched is the latest example of how he's quickly remaking WarnerMedia into his own, Tim writes. 

Why it matters: It's further proof that Discovery's merger with WarnerMedia was not a merger at all. It was a takeover.

Catch up fast: Zaslav is known for his extreme loyalty to those who he has worked with for years. Just look at who was installed in senior leadership positions at Warner Bros. Discovery:

Gunnar Wiedenfels, Bruce Campbell and David Leavy have all worked with Zaslav for years. Campbell and Zaslav go back to their days at NBCUniversal in the mid-2000s. 

Discovery's longtime ad sales chief Jon Steinlauf holds the same position with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Kathleen Finch, who came over to Discovery when it bought Scripps Networks Interactive in 2018, was put in charge of WBD's massive list of cable networks. 

Many of WarnerMedia's top executives, including CEO Jason Kilar, HBO Max chief Andy Forsell and Warner Bros. head Ann Sarnoff, were jettisoned to make room for Zaslav's lieutenants. 

Only Casey Bloys, HBO/HBO Max content head, and Toby Emmerich and Channing Dungey, who lead Warner Bros.' film and TV groups, respectively, were kept on board.

Be smart: Zaslav's plan all along was to "copy and paste" how they handled the Scripps takeover, sources familiar with the integration tell Axios' Sara Fischer.

As he just did with WBD, Zaslav absorbed Scripps and put Discovery execs in charge of many of the corporate functions, while keeping Scripps' content team in place with Finch, who gained oversight of Discovery's cable networks as well.

Between the lines: Though CNN+'s quick demise undoubtedly stings for many at the news company, it was a fait accompli once Zucker was kicked out.

The decision to eventually shutter CNN+ was made before Zucker’s replacement Chris Licht technically started; his first day in May 2. (Sara has much more on CNN+'s very short life). 

By the numbers: From a pure headcount, WarnerMedia is three times the size of Discovery. 

WarnerMedia has 30,000 employees, while Discovery has 10,000. 

That's part of why Zaslav brought in Discovery's leadership with him, the source added. The idea was to remove as much friction between the "WarnerMedia" and "Discovery" teams as possible. 

💭 Tim's thought bubble: Harder for those 30,000 people to revolt if Discovery executives are their bosses.

This imbalance also extended to investors: AT&T stockholders received 71% of WBD shares when the deal closed.

What's next: No major round of layoffs is expected until after Warner Bros. Discovery's May 18 upfront, though there may be some big names that leave the company from now until then, the source added. 

But once the dust has settled, does Zaslav go on another shopping spree? 

1 big thing: David Zaslav's WarnerMedia takeover

Illustration of a hand holding a needle that is about to pop a bunch of balloons that is holding up the CNN+ logo.

Elon Musk's Twitter bid is not over as the billionaire claims to have lined up $46.5 billion to fund the takeover, Kerry writes. 

Why it matters: "Such a joy to work with amazingly talented people at SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink & Boring Co!" Musk tweeted yesterday. If all goes according to his plan, Twitter would be added to his long list of companies. 

Details: Musk said he has two debt commitment letters from Morgan Stanley and other unnamed parties along with his own equity commitment letter, per a recent SEC filing. 

Morgan Stanley, with backing from other financial institutions, is offering $13 billion in debt financing and $12.5 billion in loans against Musk's Tesla stock. Musk's equity financing is expected to be $21 billion. 

That financing plan means more than two-thirds of the $46.5 billion package comes from Musk's assets. "That is the reverse of how most investors structure buyouts, with debt secured against the assets of the target company typically comprising the majority of the financing," per Reuters. 

What they're saying: "The massive amount of risk — especially after Tesla has shattered market expectations — left some financial analysts puzzled. 'You're giving away caviar to buy a hot dog on the street in New York City,' Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said." — Faiz Siddiqui, the Washington Post

2. The BFD: Elon's Twitter bid continues

Illustration of the Twitter logo about to be caught in a lasso.

Launch House, which runs in-person and virtual programs for startup founders, is debuting a newsletter — the first product of its media ambitions, Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva writes.

Why it matters: Producing high-quality content remains a popular and powerful marketing tactic in the startup world, with everyone from VCs like Andreessen Horowitz to vendors like Stripe partaking.  

Details: The newsletter, dubbed Homescreen, is geared toward entrepreneurs. It will be published three times a week to start and will initially aggregate and curate news and content.

It will be a combination of relevant news, cultural bits like viral tweets from industry insiders, and analysis, with the goal of "keeping founders specifically up to date with what's going on in the tech ecosystem," Launch House's Toby Howell tells Kia. 

The company shied away from revealing more details, though Howell said he plans to eventually expand his team beyond his current staff of two part-time helpers.  

"We keep alluding to a broader vision ... there's going to be a platform for founders to tell their stories organically," Howell says. 

The bottom line: The startup world may be irritated at the press for focusing on negative tech news, but it's not denying the power of good content.  

3. Launch House joins the startup content boom 

Illustration of an open envelope stylized as a house with a door, windows and a welcome mat.   

Gilde, a no-code platform for building web and mobile apps, raised $20m in Series A funding. Benchmark led, and was joined by YC Continuity, First Round and SV Angel. http://axios.link/8AxH

Perfect Venue, an SF-based event management platform for independent restaurants and venues, raised $3.6m in seed funding. Defy.vc led, and was joined by Amity Ventures and Context Ventures. http://axios.link/A3nY

The Hettema Group and Themespace are merging to form THG, an independent creative agency that builds theme park rides and other attractions. http://axios.link/lQfi

4. Deal flow

Trioscope Studios hired Chester Rodeheaver as CFO. Brian Lavin and Nikka Duarte were promoted to EVP of development and manager of development, respectively. http://axios.link/QmwM

Onyx Collective, Disney's curated content brand for creators of color and underrepresented voices, hired WME partner Ashley Holland. She's expected to be a senior scripted executive. http://axios.link/odzR

Toronto Film Festival named former Tribeca Film Institute head Beth Janson as COO. http://axios.link/9gjU

5. Movin' on up (or out)

Before Netflix about-face on advertising, months of debate (The Information)

Reed Hastings' public commitment to an ad-supported model surprised executives and staffers inside the streaming giant, who thought no decision had been made. 

Netflix, facing reality check, vows to curb its profligate ways (WSJ)

"The streaming giant ran up a huge bill over the past several years as it expanded across the globe and produced a mountain of programming, prioritizing growth over cost efficiency. Now the company is imposing more financial discipline, according to senior executives," Joe Flint writes. 

Netflix wants to build an ad business. Here are 10 executives who could lead the charge. (Insider)

"If you really want to do this right, you want to bring in Jason Kilar and his whole ad team from the original Hulu," said LightShed media analyst Rich Greenfield. "The entire team is sitting and available as we speak." 

6. Channel surfing (Netflix edition)

Illustration of a television with a tie dye pattern on the screen.

📱 Situational awareness: Verizon said Q1 2022 was its "best first-quarter performance since 2018," reporting it lost 36,000 monthly phone subscribers, which was fewer than expected and an 80% improvement from a year ago.

@tim_bays: "They Call Me Magic" on Apple TV+. Tim Cook looks to have his own "The Last Dance" with this Magic Johnson docuseries. 

@kerrymflynn: Sean Paul at House of Blues. Excited to relive my youth and dance along to "Temperature." 

Thank you for reading Axios Pro Media Deals! Please ask your friends, colleagues and David Zaslav to sign up.

April 22, 2022

1 big thing: David Zaslav's WarnerMedia takeover