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Warner Brothers Discovery expects to lose a lot of money this year as the Hollywood writers' and actors' strikes. The company that owns TV and movie studios is taking a $300-$500 million dollar hit due to the strikes with a massive hit on their 2023 earnings.
The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May and SAG/AFTRA joined in July.
According to Variety:
WBD expects the ongoing Hollywood Strikes to have a $300-$500 million negative impact on the company’s 2023 earnings.
In an SEC filing Tuesday, the David Zaslav-led media giant stated it was expecting lower adjusted earnings for the full year between $10.5-$11 billion, based on the projection that the continuing WGA and SAG-AFTRA work stoppages will mean a hit of $300 to $500 million for the company.
The WGA strike began May 2 after it failed to ink a new deal with the studios’ org, the AMPTP. SAG-AFTRA joined them on the picket lines July 14.
“While WBD is hopeful that these strikes will be resolved soon, it cannot predict when the strikes will ultimately end,” Warner Bros. Discovery wrote. “With both guilds still on strike today, the Company now assumes the financial impact to WBD of these strikes will persist through the end of 2023.”
“WBD continues to to prioritize and work diligently with other industry leadership to resolve the current WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in a manner that is fair and values the important work of, and partnership with, the writers and actors,” the company said in its Tuesday filing.