Warner Bros. Discovery is aiming to secure AEW programming but is Tony Khan picking up with CEO David Zaslav is laying down?
Matthew Belloni of the entertainment website Puck News is hearing that the exclusive rights window between AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery is closing despite the latter wanting to keep five hours of AEW programming on their television product.
However, Belloni is reporting that AEW President Tony Khan is currently disappointed with the current offer on the table from WBD and that Khan is awre of the leverage AEW has since Zaslav lost the NBA rights for Turner Sports.
On the recent media call before Double Or Nothing, Khan praised executives as WBD and remained optimistic about the two parties coming together on a deal.
Belloni notes that both sides are “playing nice” with one another for the time being, and plays both sides of the coin when it comes to AEW’s value to other networks or being a viable suitor due to WWE’s relationship with several media properties.
Whether a savvy move or not, Zaslav’s low offer to AEW makes sense considering the report that he issued an order for all departments in WBD to look at cost-cutting measures moving further into 2024.
AEW inked their first deal with WBD back in 2020, and the company has made sure to create a lot of synergy between their product and the other properties that WBD has had to offer including Game Of Thrones, Mad Max, and the aforementioned NBA.