Warner Bros. Discovery’s planned write-off on content and development has gotten bigger – almost $1 billion bigger.
In a securities filing on Wednesday, the company says it plans to take writeoffs and impairments related to content and development costs of around $2.8 – 3.5 billion – up from estimates of $2 – 2.5 billion projected in October.
They also say the total pre-tax restructuring and impairment charges related to the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger will run between $4.1 – 5.3 billion.
They add their restructuring initiatives are expected to be “substantially completed” by the end of 2024 which would suggest plenty more cost-cutting to come in 2023 and early 2024.
The reveal of the higher write-offs arrives as the company has aggressively been cutting costs and slashing multiple titles from its service in recent weeks to license out to AVOD services among others, along with scrapping multiple projects in development.
Warner Bros. Discovery is aiming to launch a combined HBO Max/Discovery+ streaming service in the U.S. next spring.
Source: THR
