• by Wayne Friedman , April 7, 2022

Just days before the closing of its merger, the new Warner Bros. Discovery company announced a slew of senior executives that will run the company’s businesses -- a mix of executives from both companies.David Zaslav, positioned to be the chief executive officer of new Warner Bros. Discovery, made the announcement.

Former Discovery chief development executive Bruce Campbell will become chief revenue and strategy officer.

Campbell's responsibilities will include U.S. advertising sales, distribution revenue and content licensing; global corporate development and strategy; global streaming platform agreements; and the company’s legal affairs.

Previously, Campbell also had distribution oversight at Discovery and was its senior legal officer.

Another Discovery veteran, JB Perrette, will be chief executive officer/president of Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment. He will oversee HBO Max and discovery+ as well as all direct-to-consumer and global gaming business. He had been president/CEO, Discovery Streaming and International. David Haddad, president Warner Bros. Games, will report to Perrette.

Kathleen Finch will take on a new position as chairman and chief content officer at the new business unit -- U.S. Networks Group -- that will merge all Discovery and WarnerMedia TV networks, now more than 40 channels in total.

Nancy Daniels, chief content officer of Discovery Factual Networks, will report to Finch, as will Brett Weitz, general manager, WarnerMedia's TBS, TNT and truTV, as well as Tom Ascheim, president of Warner Bros. global kids, young adults and classics. Finch will retain oversight for the Discovery Lifestyle Networks.

At its movie and TV production businesses, three Warner Media executives will continue in their respective roles.

Channing Dungey remains as chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group, while Toby Emmerich also continues as chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group -- overseeing Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, DC-based films and Warner Bros. Feature Animation. Casey Bloys will remain as chief content officer of HBO/HBO Max.

Chris Licht will remain as chairman and chief executive officer of CNN Global. Licht was previously announced in the position. Licht came from Paramount Global's CBS business.

In other Discovery executive announcements, Discovery veteran Gerhard Zeiler will be president, International at Warner Bros. Discovery.

He has held the same role for WarnerMedia, and now adds Discovery's businesses. When it comes to international content distribution, Zeiler, with regard to direct-to-consumer and content distribution strategy, will have a dotted line to Perrette.

For global marketing, communications, and public relations, David Leavy will take the role chief corporate affairs officer -- a position that includes corporate research, events, social responsibility, and global government relations and public policy.

Gunnar Wiedenfels will continue as chief financial officer, and Savalle Sims will continue as general counsel.

Two other Discovery senior executives will also continue in their positions: Adria Alpert Romm, will be chief people and culture officer at the new company, while Lori Locke will serve as chief accounting officer, reporting to Wiedenfels.