Though Zaslav himself did not dispute the context of the comment when Joe Kernen asked for clarification, his true intent was made clear when Zaslav followed up by saying he views sports as being on the right side of the portfolio. He's also known for squeezing costs out of operations, which could concern WarnerMedia employees who've already been through years of restructuring under AT&T. Then, sheepishly taking back his question, Kernen said, that was an aside. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. We now live in a much less transparent time. CNN, like MSNBC, serves liberal audiences. Did you say to the left? Kernan said, before taking back the question, saying he probably shouldnt have said that.. CNBC then cut away from Zaslav for breaking news on the January jobs report but came back to the Discovery honcho afterwards. Definitely to the left, Kernen said. And now, the former lawyer for Discovery founder John Hendricks is the new king of media, set to oversee $20 billion in content spend, topping Netflix's $17 billion. Biden has said he wants to raise the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%. Dominic Patten / Deadline: David Zaslav Praises CNN Adding More GOP Voices; Balance Strategy Is Important, Warner Bros Discovery Boss Says. Correction: Mediaite has learned Zaslav was referring to the left side of the Discovery portfolio, not the left side of the political aisle. [6][7], Zaslav was born to a Polish and Ukrainian Jewish family[8][9][10][11] in Brooklyn, New York. Where do they give money for political gain around regulation and governance? The public reason given was that Zucker didn't disclose a sexual relationship with CNN executive Allison Gollust, which immediately raised eyebrows as their relationship was widely known. Discovery in April 2022. Spurred by the rapid proliferation of social media platforms, with questionable content,and a formerpresident who pummeled our free press repeatedly, its no wonder Americans are left wary and our information ecosystem is in shambles. Discovery Chief Executive Officer David Zaslavs total compensation fell more than 17% in 2020, topping out at $37.7 million. "He had an incredible knack for developing strong relationships. It raises the question: Does super PAC funding, often with a hefty and opaque line-item labeled media spend,fund some of these outlets? 1. We have this great entertainment menu, which should keep people in the home, from the kids to the grandparents. On Friday morning, he shocked CNBC hosts by calling the network 'the leader of news to the left'. Jeffrey Sprecher, the CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange and husband to Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., who came under scrutiny for their stock dealings during the start of the coronavirus pandemic, gave nearly $1.3 million during the April-June quarter. David Zaslav had a hand in the launch of MSNBC, another left-leaning network, during his time as an NBC executive. Discovery CEO David Zaslav praised CNN on Friday and said news is going to be really critical to the future of the soon to be combined Warner Bros. Edward Atsinger, a leading evangelical and co-founder of conservative Townhall Media,gave about $30,000. Billionaire Paul Singer, who claimed, post the CNN-Discovery merger, that his activism brought the deal about, balanced things out with his $1.7 million. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. Of those donations, $1 million went to America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC. The combination has promised $3 billion in synergies. Only 60 people in media leadership had donated more than$2,000 to a political candidate since 2019. David Michael Zaslav (born January 15, 1960)[1] is an American media executive who currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Warner Bros. [9][10][47] In 2012, he received the Steven J. Ross Humanitarian Award from the UJA-Federation of New York[48] which honors people of vision, energy and sustained achievement in the entertainment, media and communications industries. Marc Rowan at Apollo Management, the private equity firm that recently acquired Yahoo News for $5 billion, gave $1.75 million. Having pulled off the media coup of the decade, the energetic executive will preside over the Warner-Discovery group. His responsibilities extended to Bravo, CNBC World, SCI FI, ShopNBC, Sleuth, Telemundo, Telemundo Puerto Rico, mun2, Trio, Universal HD, USA Network, NBC Weather Plus and the Olympics on cable. "I would like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing,"Malonesaid in an interview that aired on CNBC. A Discovery spokesperson told the Post that Zaslav didnt finish his thought, adding that he uses the phrase to organize his conversations around Discoverys business. If the medium controls the message, then we are asking these questions to make out your character, media owners. The government needs to catch up and revamp how we track media money in politics. Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg fund swaths of lobbyists in Washington. "I think of CNN in a totally different way than I thought about it years ago. Media tends to be a reflection of where the country is. Despite the high energy, any display of incivility would result in banishment the towns most prominent attorney was permanently exiled for shoving his date. Zaslav laughed but did not retract his comment. [3][4][5] He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer and president of Discovery, Inc. beginning on November 16, 2006 and ending on April 8, 2022, when it was merged with WarnerMedia. Over the years, Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, and Harry Connick Jr. performed for an A-List crowd that included Jamie Dimon, Oprah Winfrey, Ron Howard, and tennis star Boris Becker, to name a few. Sinai Medical Center. David Zaslav, the Discovery Inc. chief executive who has catapulted himself to the top of the media world through a wave of deal-making, will lead a new venture Indeed, after the Discovery and Scripps deal, Zaslav promised to wring $350 million in synergies from the business, but by the time the integration was done, the Discovery boss had cut his way to $1 billion. Discovery , He doesn't.". It is nearly impossible to know where the money is spent,even if you can run down the roster of donors. Over the years, he's secured the $1.6 billion European rights to the Olympics and the $2 billion PGA golf rights; bought Scripps Networks, owner of HGTV and Food Network; and launched OWN with Oprah Winfrey. The company did not break out Discovery+ numbers specifically, so this tally includes its other, much smaller SVOD platforms, but the majority of that 20 million figure is made up of Discovery+ numbers, per Discovery. In his contract extension, Zaslav also received stock options valued at $190 million, making him one of the highest-paid entertainment executives in the world. David M. Zaslav (born January 15, 1960) is the president and chief executive officer of Discovery Inc., a position he has held since January 2007. Most recently under Zaslav, Discovery acquired Scripps Networks Interactive, in a transaction which closed in March 2018. He was previously an executive at NBCUniversal. Using the original ownership index, we tracked the political donations at 90 of the top U.S. news organizations. Biden has said he wants to raise the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. The Cook Political Report marks six Republican-held Senate seats in Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Montana and North Carolina as toss ups. For context, OpenSecrets reported that political spending in the 2020 election reached $14 billion, the most expensive election ever. Why would they go anywhere else? Where the country was when we launched MSNBC was much more fact-based and less divided.. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis. What investors need to know about Biden's economic vision. Correction: Mediaite has learned Zaslav was referring to the left side of the Discovery portfolio, not the left side of the political aisle. Scrambling to walk back the comments, Discoverys team said Zaslav often uses the phrases the left or the right to reference current and future business initiatives. Zaslav was speaking at the Paley International Council Summit when he made the remarks, which were covered by several news outlets virtually attending the media event. Loeffler is running for reelection to the Senate. Email him here: joed@mediaite.com His salary remained locked at $3 million. He was granted no options. The merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery is reportedly set to be completed early in the spring. Zaslav's executive compensation package includes an annual salary of $3 million with an annual $22 million bonus. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said Friday on CNBC that he had nothing to do with Jeff Zuckers CNN exit. I think Fox News is much more of an advocacy network than a news network, Zaslav said, according to Washington Post media reporter Jeremy Barr. Other notable S&P 500 CEO contributions to Republican led groups in the second quarter include Robert Bradway, the chief executive of biopharmaceutical company Amgen; Daniel Amos, the CEO of insurance giant Aflac; and Gregory Brown, the CEO of Motorola Solutions. No surprise, Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan collectivelygave over $2.5 million, mostly to Republicans. CNNs political stance is a source of frequent scrutiny in the news industry. In an interview on CNBC Friday, Discovery CEO David Zaslav, as part of an assessment of his brands portfolio, took stock of CNNs place in the public consciousness and said this: CNBC host Joe Kernen immediately seized on the comment. Philip Anschutz, owner of the Washington Examiner, gave $168,500. See Barrs tweets at the bottom of this post. Together, Discovery and WarnerMedia will span every genre from Hollywood movies and TV shows to reality TV, to news and sports. Zucker's leadership of CNN since 2013 saw the network lurch farther to the left, particularly after the political rise of former President Donald Trump. [12] At the age of 8, he moved to Rockland County where he graduated from Ramapo High School. Even his wife, Clare Boothe Luce, herself a Republican member of Congress, chastised him publicly for his relentless coverage in Time of Barry Goldwaters GOP nomination for president. Zaslav earned a BS degree from Binghamton University. Sen. And John Malone, when you hear him, hes still a big part of your life, a big part of Discovery, if he said we need CNN to go back to reporting news". One Warner executive told friends that Zaslav's unexpected arrival would bring structure and order versus the "move-fast and break things" style of the WarnerMedia's current chief executive, Jason Kilar, whose future with the company is still unclear. Zaslav made a similar remark during an AT&T and Discovery joint news conference in May 2021, describingthe left side of the joint company as everything other than the content.. But here is where it fell short. Zaslav is on the board of Mexican programming giant Televisa, now merging with Univision. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for WarnerMedia). [52], Zaslav lives in New York City with his wife Pam and the couple has three children. Heidi Legg is the lead research fellow at the Future of Media Project at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University. Zaslavs battles will be more expensive. But he also contributed $100,000 to the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund, and $124,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Something we can likely all agree on is that trust in media is at an all-time low and Americans want reliable, nonpartisan news. Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) His Facebook page is full of old school friendships and trips with the former GE CEO, Jack Welch. According to Deadline, he even made it known that corporate procedures had to be followed to the letter in regards to Zucker., Have a tip we should know? Zaslavwill lead the combined company called Warner Bros. S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, "Discovery Communications 2011 Proxy Filing", "AT&T announces $43 billion deal to merge WarnerMedia with Discovery", "Discovery Chief Got Options Valued at $190 Million on Eve of AT&T Deal", "Discovery Hands CEO David Zaslav Stock Options Valued At $190M In Contract Extension; Sets Base Salary At $3M, Target Bonus At $20M Update", "Compensation Information for David M. Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer of DISCOVERY INC", Variety Magazine: "Industry Heavyweights Support Auschwitz 70th Anniversary Commemoration" by Cynthia Littleton, Jewish Business News: "Steven Spielberg And David Zaslav Commemorate Auschwitz Liberation 70th Anniversary", Algemeiner Journal: "Hollywood Heavyweights to Join Spielberg at Auschwitz Commemoration Ceremony in Poland", The Cable Center: "David Zaslav: Oral and Video Collection Interview", "David Zaslav 2004 Oral and Video History", "10 Things You Didn't Know About David Zaslav", "MIPCOM: Discovery CEO David Zaslav Celebrated as Personality of the Year", http://corporate.discovery.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DZ-bio-8.7.15.pdf, "New Chief at Discovery Is 2nd Senior Executive to Leave NBC This Week", "Manhattan Jewish Historical Initiative, 4th Annual Jewish Hall of Fame Class of 2020 | World Liberty TV - Multicultural Online TV", "David Zaslav, President and CEO, Discovery Communications", "Zaslav Holds To Growth Plan At Discovery", "Planet Green Moves Away From Its Eco Theme", "Tuned In: The Hub Network Offers Programs for Younger Children", "Discovery, Winfrey to Team Up On Network", "TCA: Discovery Sets Launch Date For Velocity, Adds Big Names to 'Curiosity', Preps Science Channel's 'Trek Nation', Introduces 'Weed' Team", "Discovery Launches Velocity Channel, Aimed at Rich Men", "Discovery Hopes for Payoff on Crime Channel", "Discovery Closes Scripps Acquisition, Creating Non-scripted Content Giant", "Media Companies, Seeing Profit Slip, Push Into Education (Published 2012)", "Discovery Rebrands Velocity as Motor Trend Network (EXCLUSIVE)", "Discovery completes Scripps deal, targets OTT opportunities", "David Zaslav And John Stankey Outline Plans For Merging Discovery And WarnerMedia, Addressing Future Of Jason Kilar, CNN, Streaming", "Warner Bros. Mediaite regrets the error. Read Next: Prime Video Delays Citadel Trailer Drop Following Greece Train Crash, Almost Famous Star Casey Likes Cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future: The Musical, AMC Quarterly Earnings: Losses Widen, Revenues Fall Despite Avatar 2 Box Office Success, The Weeknd Sets First Lead Role in Film He Co-Wrote and Produced, Opposite Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, Woody Harrelson Slams COVID Set Protocols as 'Nonsense,' Urges Hollywood to 'Stop' Forcing 'Vaccination': Thats 'Not a Free Country', Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Writer Surprised by Terrible Reviews: I Was in a Low Spot and Really Sad About It, Super Mario Bros. Movie Is Releasing Two Days Early, Michael B. Jordan Meets Reporter at 'Creed III' Premiere Who 'Teased Him all the Time' in High School: 'I Was the Corny Kid, Right? Per Barr, Zaslav said he is waiting for the deal to close before discussing or simply divulging those types of plans. Longtime Discovery chief David Zaslav, who will soon oversee CNN as part of his companys merger with WarnerMedia, called his future competitor Fox News Channel much more of an advocacy network than a news network on Wednesday. Got a confidential news tip? It's now available in every corner of the globe. Raising the corporate tax rate is not exactly conducive to growing revenue or earnings," Eberhart said. Zaslav wondered how he would stack up against the likes of Netflix and Disney without more content and if he would be forced to sell if he couldn't get bigger to compete with those companies, with their seemingly bottomless pockets. Brooklyn-born Zaslav attended high school in Rockland County, where he was captain of the tennis team. We need radical transparency from media and social media platforms on which politicians, super PACs and lobbyists they fund. And lobbyists they fund as an NBC executive went to America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC way. 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