Warner Bros. Discovery Picks Sports Chief to Navigate Streaming Era

Mr. Silberwasser, who is Latino, is one of a few executives of color on Mr. Zaslav’s management team. He joins Savalle Sims, the company’s general counsel, and Channing Dungey, the chairman of Warner Brothers Television Group, who are Black. Warner Bros. Discovery has taken steps to diversify its board of directors, and Mr. Silberwasser’s appointment makes him one of the most powerful Latino executives in the U.S. media industry.

Mr. Silberwasser will need to keep programming costs under control while the price of live sports rights soars. Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav has told Wall Street the company will be disciplined about its spending on content, but he also wants the company to continue to be a major player in the sports-media arena. Those two goals could be at odds.

One prominent example: The N.B.A. Warner Bros. Discovery pays an average of about $1.2 billion per year for the rights to show N.B.A. games nationally, part of a nine-year agreement signed in 2014. That agreement is up after the 2024-25 season, and the N.B.A. is expecting its fee to sharply increase during the next round of negotiations given the rising popularity of the N.B.A. globally, according to a person familiar with the agreement.

There is little doubt Warner Bros. Discovery will have to pay more to continue showing the N.B.A., which is a top draw for its cable channel TNT and sports website Bleacher Report. The N.F.L. nearly doubled its media revenue from rights agreements signed last year, and the N.H.L., Southeastern Conference and other sports leagues have seen huge increases in recently completed deals.

Mr. Silberwasser will be responsible for managing Warner Bros. Discovery’s U.S. sports portfolio and setting the company’s global sports strategy. The company’s international sports portfolio, including the Olympics, will be managed by Andrew Georgiou, the president and managing director of WBD Sports Europe. Lenny Daniels, the president of Turner Sports, and Patrick Crumb, the president of regional sports networks, will report to Mr. Silberwasser.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/business/media/warner-bros-discovery-luis-silberwasser.html