HBO Max debacle leads to shareholder revolt

Warner Bros. shareholders aren't too happy wth the company's management.

Jun 4, 2025 - 20:14

HBO Max debacle leads to shareholder revolt

Social media can be a double-edged sword for a company like Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) .

On the one hand, the consumer insight that users readily share is invaluable. The most sophisticated focus group couldn't match the insights of the average subreddit.

But on the other edge of that sword is the fact that social media allows people to speak their minds freely, even anonymously, if they so choose, and often, that anonymity makes them mean.

Whether it's about the cancellation of a beloved show, the renewal of a hated show, or a review of a recently released movie, social media users will make their voices heard loudly.

For Warner Bros., the social media criticism is often lobbed at CEO David Zaslav, whether he deserves it or not.

HBO Max launched long before Warner Bros. merged with Discovery Inc. in April 2022. After the merger, Warner and Discovery figured the best way to integrate their two brands was to drop the iconic HBO moniker and just go with the name Max for their streaming service officially in May 2023.

The change became official on May 23. Two years later, we will officially be back to calling it HBO Max, starting this summer.

HBO Max reached 117 million subscribers in 2024 after adding nearly 6.5 million in the fourth quarter.

On Wednesday, Warner shareholders started using their voices like social media does.

watching davd zaslav sign away dc movies to tubi… pic.twitter.com/stUSe0IrrC— Khaver خاور (@thekarachikid) March 5, 2024

Warner shareholders vote to rebuke CEO David Zaslav

Shareholders at Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) annual meeting voted not to approve Zaslav's or any other WB execs' 2024 compensation by a wide margin.

There were 1.06 billion shareholder votes against approving his 2024 pay package versus 724.4 million votes for approving. The vote is on a non-binding, advisory basis, meaning it's just procedural, but it also shows a clear rebuke of his work.

Zaslav's pay package for 2024 totaled $51.9 million, and 59% of the shareholder vote went against it.

Warner Bros. has had a turbulent three-year period since its merger with Discovery. Just last month, the ratings agency S&P Global downgraded the company to a junk rating due to its credit metrics, cash flow, and revenue declines in its television segment.

Warner Bros. said Wednesday that it “appreciates the views of all its shareholders and takes the results of the annual advisory vote on executive compensation seriously. The Compensation Committee of the Board looks forward to continuing its regular practice of engaging in constructive dialogue with our shareholders.“

Streaming wars move to the next phase

Disney was the first major broadcast network to launch its Netflix challenger, Disney+, in November 2019.

Luckily for Disney, and unluckily for the rest of the world, a global pandemic that forced everyone to stay indoors was just around the corner, helping fuel exponential growth for the platform.

Disney+ garnered 100 million subscribers by March 2021. But after peaking at about 164.2 million in October 2022, it experienced its first decline ever. Over the next few months, Disney+ churned nearly 20 million subscribers, bottoming out at 146.1 million in July 2023, according to data from BackLink.

Comcast launched Peacock, its own streaming service, in July 2020. Much like Disney+, Peacock relied on bundles, deals, and a cheap starting price to attract subscribers. However, Peacock's growth wasn't as meteoric as that of Disney+.

By August 2021, it had 26 million signups, but just four million of those were converted into subscribers. Since then, Peacock has also grown exponentially. It now has 41 million subscribers.

But while it has grown in popularity, it is still not profitable. Peacock generated $1.2 billion in revenue for Comcast in the quarter, a 16% increase. Still, it lost $215 million in the period, down from $639 million the year before.

Warner Bros. Discovery launched HBO Max in May 2020.