Warner Bros Discovery

Can Mark Thompson work his magic at CNN?

Chicken Noodle Network, they mocked, when CNN launched on a wing and a prayer almost 44 years ago. It was a revolutionary and, many thought, crazy idea: TV news, 24/7. The all-powerful US networks were confident that this upstart rival, thinly resourced and prone to on-air gaffes, wouldn’t last six months.

Instead, of course, it grew into an important and influential global news machine generating huge profits for its founder, Ted Turner, and a $7.3bn shares payday when he sold to Time Warner.

Black Britain Unspoken: Warner Bros. Discovery premiere three films at RTS London Convention

Between the sessions, delegates watched a series of three short films, Black Britain Unspoken. Commissioned by Warner Bros Discovery and Media Trust, they tease out often-overlooked nuances of life experienced by black British people and are airing on Discovery+ over the course of October’s Black History Month. 

First up was The Nod: Tell Me You Got Me, an insightful exploration into the near-universal gesture recognised by black people who are otherwise unknown to each other. 

Full programme and Baz Luhrmann announced for RTS London Convention 2022

RTS London Convention 2022 'The Fight For Attention' on Tuesday 27 September

The biennial one-day event, taking place on Tuesday 27th September 2022 at Kings Place, London is titled “The Fight for Attention”. Global leaders will gather to discuss the future evolution of the television industry both in the UK and globally.

Warner Bros Discovery's Priya Dogra: A very modern media mogul

For an Indian-born entertainment executive who has spent much of her life working for Time Warner in New York, Priya Dogra needs no reminding that today’s television businesses operating at scale have no option but to think globally. “Nowadays, hit shows come from all over the world,” she says. 

Dogra, 43, was the big winner of the recent Warner Bros Discovery international reshuffle and, as the London-­based President and Managing Director for EMEA, she leads one of the key international divisions of the newly merged behemoth. 

New speakers announced for the RTS London Convention 2022

Further high-profile speakers added to the programme include: Barbara Arvanitidis, Senior Producer, CNN; Nima Elbagir, Chief International Investigative Correspondent, CNN; Michael Grade, Chair, Ofcom; Maria Kyriacou, President, ViacomCBS Networks UK, Australia and Israel; Ben McOwen Wilson, Managing Director, YouTube UK and Ireland; Gianluca Mezzofiore, Investigative Producer, CNN; Katie Polglase, Investigative Producer, CNN; Amol Rajan, Journalist & Presenter and Kirsty Wark, Journalist & Writer.

The battle for live TV sports begins

Recent events in the sports rights industry will both reinvigorate and reset the battle for live TV sport in the UK and beyond. 

The 50:50 joint venture between BT and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), agreed in May, will have ramifications for all the major rights holders. These include the dominant live sports broadcaster, Sky, which continues to have its own sports partnerships with WBD. 

BT’s deal with WBD also has implications for Amazon and other digital platform behemoths that are poised to increase their live sports content.