It has been three years since Discovery Family has been owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, and the complete removal of the Discovery Family GO! app, and almost two years since some of Hasbro's programming had been removed from the channel. And yet, within those three years, all we get are nothing but decreases in investments and earnings, and not one public announcement!
Between the six most recent annual reports from Warner Bros. Discovery, the only difference was "Neither the put nor the call was exercised in 2022. In December 2022, Hasbro and WBD signed an amendment to the previous agreement extending the put-call election to the period January 31, 2025 to March 31, 2025." And yet, still nothing is announced, even with only not much time left from there.
On Hasbro's side, all they reported were:
"In connection with the September 23, 2014 amendment, the Company and WBD entered into an option agreement to acquire the Company’s remaining 40% ownership in DFC, exercisable during the one-year period following December 31, 2021. During 2022, the Company and WBD further amended the agreement by extending the option exercise window through March 2025. As of December 29, 2024, neither party had exercised the option or put right to require WBD to acquire the Company's remaining ownership in DFC. The exercise price of the option agreement is based upon 80% of the then fair market value of DFC, subject to a fair market value floor. At December 29, 2024, the fair market value of this option was zero. At December 31, 2023, the fair market value of this option was $1.7 million and was included as a component of Other liabilities. During 2024, the Company recorded a gain of $1.8 million in Other expense (income), net relating to the change in fair value of this option.
During the fourth quarter of 2024 and 2023, the Company reviewed its investment in DFC for an other than temporary decline in value of the investment due to decreases in forecasted revenues. The Company determined that the fair value of the Company's interest in the joint venture was less than its carrying value, and as such, recorded an impairment loss of $80.0 million and $1.3 million, respectively, which is included in Other expense (income), net in the consolidated statements of operations. As of December 29, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company’s investment in DFC totaled $5.6 million and $102.0 million, respectively."
This also came with a very low total of $9.4 million in Hasbro's share in the earnings of the channel, along with a plummeting net revenue on film and TV from $575.5 million to just $6.6 million.
At this rate, Discovery Family Channel might outlive Boomerang, Disney Jr., Disney XD, Nicktoons, Nick Jr. and TeenNick, all of which launched before DFC (back then known as Discovery Kids), and might as well be the last cable network to ever die, and perhaps even die a joint venture.
Based on all these facts, what do you guys think this means?
A. Hasbro and/or WBD are consistently failing to keep to DFC's standards, compared to other channels
B. Hasbro and/or WBD are continuing to force poor and unreliable options of their content
C. Hasbro and/or WBD are still doing things that only support their line of thought
D. None of the above are true
You can choose more than one choice, unless you pick D, which I strongly do not recommend.
Between the six most recent annual reports from Warner Bros. Discovery, the only difference was "Neither the put nor the call was exercised in 2022. In December 2022, Hasbro and WBD signed an amendment to the previous agreement extending the put-call election to the period January 31, 2025 to March 31, 2025." And yet, still nothing is announced, even with only not much time left from there.
On Hasbro's side, all they reported were:
"In connection with the September 23, 2014 amendment, the Company and WBD entered into an option agreement to acquire the Company’s remaining 40% ownership in DFC, exercisable during the one-year period following December 31, 2021. During 2022, the Company and WBD further amended the agreement by extending the option exercise window through March 2025. As of December 29, 2024, neither party had exercised the option or put right to require WBD to acquire the Company's remaining ownership in DFC. The exercise price of the option agreement is based upon 80% of the then fair market value of DFC, subject to a fair market value floor. At December 29, 2024, the fair market value of this option was zero. At December 31, 2023, the fair market value of this option was $1.7 million and was included as a component of Other liabilities. During 2024, the Company recorded a gain of $1.8 million in Other expense (income), net relating to the change in fair value of this option.
During the fourth quarter of 2024 and 2023, the Company reviewed its investment in DFC for an other than temporary decline in value of the investment due to decreases in forecasted revenues. The Company determined that the fair value of the Company's interest in the joint venture was less than its carrying value, and as such, recorded an impairment loss of $80.0 million and $1.3 million, respectively, which is included in Other expense (income), net in the consolidated statements of operations. As of December 29, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company’s investment in DFC totaled $5.6 million and $102.0 million, respectively."
This also came with a very low total of $9.4 million in Hasbro's share in the earnings of the channel, along with a plummeting net revenue on film and TV from $575.5 million to just $6.6 million.
At this rate, Discovery Family Channel might outlive Boomerang, Disney Jr., Disney XD, Nicktoons, Nick Jr. and TeenNick, all of which launched before DFC (back then known as Discovery Kids), and might as well be the last cable network to ever die, and perhaps even die a joint venture.
Based on all these facts, what do you guys think this means?
A. Hasbro and/or WBD are consistently failing to keep to DFC's standards, compared to other channels
B. Hasbro and/or WBD are continuing to force poor and unreliable options of their content
C. Hasbro and/or WBD are still doing things that only support their line of thought
D. None of the above are true
You can choose more than one choice, unless you pick D, which I strongly do not recommend.
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