Zaslav: Poland’s TVN “not for sale”

David Zaslav, the president of Warner Bros. Discovery, has told employees at the headquarters of Poland’s TVN that the broadcaster is not for sale.

According to various local reports, he added that prior to coming to Poland he had a meeting at the White House and obtained support for TVN.

Interestingly, he is also reported as saying that he hopes Warner Bros. Discovery will be able to overtake Netflix in Poland. In addition, it was reported that Zaslav was due to meet with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda.

In a conversation with the news-based channel TVN24, which is part of TVN’s portfolio, when speaking about streaming services in Poland, Zaslav said: “I think that for our voice to matter, we have to be available everywhere and for everyone. For a long time, people watched stories only on TV screens. Then our phones became such receivers. Finally, Netflix and other subscription platforms have arrived. We launched Eurosport Player. We did the same in TVN, in our company. New methods of reaching the audience are now available. We can be a leader in traditional business. But to be successful, we need to become a leader in streaming, and I think Max will help us do that. Our platform in Poland is great. With today’s HBO Max, together with TVN streaming, we are number one or two on the market. And on Max, we’re building more content”.

Broadband TV News notes that TVN Warner Bros. Discovery has come under growing political pressure in Poland, focused on delays in channel licence extensions such as one for TVN24.