David Zaslav

David Zaslav (born January 15, 1960) is an American media executive who is the current CEO and president of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Zaslav became CEO and president of Discovery, Inc. in 2006, and oversaw the company as it went public in 2008 and then merged with WarnerMedia in April 2022.

Prior to Discovery, Zaslav worked at NBCUniversal where he helped develop and launch the cable channels CNBC and MSNBC.

Early life

David Zaslav was born into a Jewish family in New York City's Brooklyn borough on January 15, 1960. His family was part of the diaspora from Poland and Ukraine. At the age of eight, he moved with his family to Ramapo, New York, where he graduated from Ramapo High School. He earned a B.S. from Binghamton University, then graduated with honors from the Boston University School of Law with a J.D. in 1985. He started his career as an attorney with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Lieby and MacRae in New York.

Career

NBCUniversal

Zaslav joined NBC in 1989. As president of Cable and Domestic TV and New Media Distribution, he helped develop and launch CNBC and MSNBC, oversaw content distribution to all forms of TV, negotiated for cable and satellite carriage of NBCUniversal networks and forged media partnerships.

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.

Zaslav also oversaw NBCUniversal's interests in A&E, The History Channel, The Biography Channel, National Geographic International, the Sundance Channel and TiVo.

Discovery, Inc.

Zaslav became CEO of Discovery Communications in November 16, 2006, succeeding Judith McHale. Zaslav instigated a shift in strategy by the company, aiming to see itself as a "content company" rather than a "cable company" by bolstering its main networks (such as its namesake Discovery Channel) as multi-platform brands. As CEO, Zaslav oversaw the development and launch of new networks such as Planet Green (later rebranded as Destination America), The Hub, Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), Velocity (later rebranded as MotorTrend), and Investigation Discovery, as well as the company's 2018 acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive, expansion of its digital education operations, and launch of streaming service discovery+.

Under his direction, Discovery began trading as a public company in 2008, became a ''Fortune'' 500 company in 2014 and acquired Scripps Networks Interactive in 2018 for $14.6 billion, becoming Discovery, Inc with new networks including Food Network, HGTV, and DIY Network.

Warner Bros. Discovery

In May 2021, it was announced that Zaslav would serve as CEO of a proposed merger of Discovery with a spin-out of AT&T's WarnerMedia, succeeding Jason Kilar. The $43 billion deal was closed on April 8, 2022. Zaslav's executive compensation package includes an annual salary of $3 million with an annual $22 million bonus. In his contract extension, Zaslav also received stock options valued at $190 million. In 2023, Zaslav's total compensation from Warner Bros. Discovery was $49.7 million, representing a CEO-to-median worker pay ratio of 290-to-1.

Under Zaslav's direction, Warner Bros. Discovery launched Max, a combined streaming offering that brought together the libraries of HBO Max and Discovery+. The service debuted in the US on March 23, 2023, in Latin America and the Caribbean on February 27, 2024, and in parts of EMEA on May 21, 2024, with additional international markets to follow.

Since August 2022, Zaslav received massive criticism by audience and industry figures for his decision to cancel projects in order to claim tax write-offs. Some of these projects were "practically finished" or in the late stages of post-production, including '' Batgirl, Coyote vs. Acme'' and '' Scoob! Holiday Haunt''. Zaslav also received backlash for the removal of many of Warner Bros' animated programs and select HBO live action shows from streaming platforms and pulling some of HBO Max's content in general, including ''Final Space'', '' Tig n' Seek'', '' Elliott from Earth'', '' The Nevers'', '' Infinity Train'', '' Summer Camp Island'', '' The Fungies!'', '' Close Enough'', '' Westworld'', '' The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo,'' the entirety of the original ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons, most content from Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, and nearly 200 episodes of ''Sesame Street''. ''Infinity Train'' creator Owen Dennis remarked that many of the programs are effectively as " lost media".

As head of Warner Bros. Discovery, Zaslav appointed Chris Licht as CEO of CNN in 2022. With Zaslav's support, Licht implemented changes at CNN that sought to shift to a "journalism first" focus. In August 2023, Zaslav appointed Mark Thompson, former president and CEO of ''The New York Times'' and former Director General at the BBC, as the new CNN chief.

During the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, David Zaslav said that Warner Bros. Discovery and other Hollywood studios were "not glad" that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes had occurred and that the company was working to resolve the strike and compensate writers and actors fairly. According to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, the demands of their workers would cost WBD an estimated $47 million. In September 2023, WBD estimated that the strike caused losses of $300 million–$500 million for the company.

In February 2024, a group of US congressmen sent a letter to Zaslav criticizing ''World's Ultimate Frontier'', a joint production between Discovery and Chinese state media outlet China Global Television Network (CGTN), for "whitewashing genocide" of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. They called on Discovery to "suspend this partnership with CGTN immediately and to abstain from entering into any similar partnership with any other agent of CCP influence."

Zaslav partnered with Disney CEO Bob Iger and Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch in a joint venture to create a sports streaming service, named Venu Sports, that would be run by former Apple executive Pete Distad. The service was originally expected to launch in the fall of 2024, but was ultimately cancelled.

Boards and other activities

Zaslav serves on the boards of Sirius XM, American Cinematheque, Grupo Televisa, and Syracuse University. He also is a member of the board of trustees for the Paley Center for Media. Syracuse University and is on the Board of Overseers for NYU Langone Health. He is a member of the Executive Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is also a member of the Television Academy.

In 2012, he received the Steven J. Ross Humanitarian Award from the United Jewish Appeal Federation (UJA) of New York which honors people of vision, energy and sustained achievement in the entertainment, media and communications industries. In 2014, Zaslav was awarded the Fred Dressler Leadership Award by Syracuse University's S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. In September 2016, Zaslav was awarded the Susan Newhouse & SI Newhouse Award of Hope for his support of the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD).

In 2017, Zaslav was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame and is a member of the Cable TV Pioneers Class of 2018. In 2022, he was named one of ''Time'''s 100 Most Influential People.

Personal life

Zaslav lives in New York City with his wife Pam and their three children. His daughter, Ali, is a congressional producer with CNN.

During the 2020 election cycle, Zaslav donated over $240,000 to Democratic politicians and PACs, as well as $5,600 to Republican senator Jim Risch.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaslav, David
1960 births
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews
American chief executives in the mass media industry
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
American television executives
Binghamton University alumni
Boston University School of Law alumni
Businesspeople from Brooklyn
Jews from New York City
Living people
Mass media people from Brooklyn
NBCUniversal people
Warner Bros. Discovery people