Warner Bros. Discovery Ends Scripted Development at TNT & TBS

AEW’s television partner has cut off development on scripted projects at TNT & TBS, according to a new report. Variety reports that Warner Bros. Discovery, who completed their merger earlier this month, has made the decision to forgo new scripted content and is evaluating the strategy for TNT, TBS and truTV.

At the moment it is unclear what that means for TNT and TBS’s current scripted series such as Snowpiercer, though the report notes that for now it is status quo for that particular show. Warner Bros. Discovery has yet to respond to requests for comment.

AEW is not mentioned in the report and is not traditionally considered “scripted content” in the same way as traditional television series. Dynamite has generally doubled the ratings of TBS’s scripted programming in the 2021 – 2022 season, averaging a 0.386 in 2022 and 994,000 viewers while TBS’s shows have been as follows for the 2021 & 2022 season (per TV Series Finale):

* Miracle Workers (0.18 demo rating, 684,00 viewers)
* Chad (0.18 rating, 583,000 viewers)
* American Dad! (0.18 demo rating, 498,000 viewers)
* The Last OG (0.14 demo rating, 496,000 viewers)

Meanwhile, Rampage has averaged a 0.201 demo rating in 2022 and 518,000 viewers compared to TNT’s shows as follows:

* The Alienist (0.20 demo rating, 1.035 million viewers)
* Animal Kingdom (0.19 demo rating, 894,000 viewers)
* Snowpiercer (0.14 demo rating, 647,000 viewers)
* Claws (0.11 demo rating, 437,000 viewers)

AEW’s current deal runs through 2023 and was signed in 2020. It’s not clear if the halt of scripted development would potentially hinder AEW or put it in a position where the programming is more valuable for Warner Bros. Discovery.