As media reckons with strategic shifts, a new crop of leaders is coming into play

Legacy media is in a time of tumult. And it’s bringing a new crop of decision-makers to the fore.

In an industry that’s long been run by storied Hollywood executives, usually with resumes in content and programming, those with finance backgrounds and track records of deal-making are increasingly reshaping the landscape.

Many of those leaders — some of whom recently attended Allen & Co.’s annual conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, known as “summer camp for billionaires” — will be featured on conference calls in the coming weeks as the media industry reports quarterly earnings. Netflix will kick off media’s earnings season on Thursday.

Industry analysts and experts say the elevation of these previously lesser-heard-from media executives comes as the industry shifts its focus to stemming the cable TV bleed, making streaming profitable and reining in content spending budgets. It’s also a signal that these companies are in a moment of transformation, and there’s a need to enlist leaders who have a different mindset than the old guard.

“It is probably a sign that these businesses are in perpetual decline and the only way to survive is to financial engineer your way towards any sort of modest growth, or just less decline than would be otherwise typical,” said Brandon Nispel, an analyst at KeyBanc.

The most recent example came last month when Warner Bros. Discovery announced its intention to split into two public companies next year. Current CEO David Zaslav will run the streaming and studios company, while CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels will step into the top job at the global networks business.

Before serving as WBD’s finance chief, Wiedenfels held the same post at Discovery prior to its merger with Warner Media in 2022. And before that, he was CFO at German media company ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE.

His past contrasts with the typical legacy media CEOs such as Disney chief Bob Iger, who held various entertainment roles before taking the top job, including at ABC Entertainment where he was in charge of green-lighting TV series. Iger’s predecessor, Michael Eisner, had a foundation that included stints across top media companies. Media mogul Barry Diller rose through the ranks of entertainment — from the mailroom at the William Morris Agency to eventually top roles at Paramount and Fox.

Even Wiedenfels’ counterpart, Zaslav, was on the TV programming side for much of his career prior to taking over as CEO.

This trend toward finance and operation leaders has been propelled by Netflix’s upheaval of the media industry, said Jonathan Miller, chief executive of Integrated Media, which specializes in digital media investments. Miller is a longtime senior media industry executive who’s held top posts at News Corp. and AOL. He is also a former board member at Hulu.

As Netflix courted consumers to its streaming platform, it “just outspent everybody” to bulk up its library, said Miller.

“In my view, that diminished the role of creative programmers who most typically would have been the ones to run this kind of company,” said Miller. “Managing the money is now at least as important, if not more, than the creative side. I’m not sure if that should be true, but I think that’s where we are in the industry.”

In 2023, industry disruptor Netflix stepped outside the box when it promoted Greg Peters, previously the company’s COO, as co-CEO with Ted Sarandos after Reed Hastings announced he would step back.

While Sarandos has long been in charge of content, Peters had focused on growing the business beyond DVDs and into streaming, expanding partnerships and growing the international footprint — all key to the media giant’s growth.

In Hastings’ note announcing the leadership change, he called Peters’ track record “instrumental in driving our partnerships, building and launching advertising, pushing us into deeper personalization, rebuilding our talent organization and helping to strength our culture.”

Bringing an executive like Peters to the forefront of decision-making and leadership proved to be another sign of Netflix’s disruptive nature — both internally and industrywide.

Hastings had long been against instituting an advertising model that would offer a cheaper option for subscribers, and the company had ignored password sharing among its customers for years. But when subscriber growth stalled the company shifted gears, and it has proven fruitful, as evidenced by both company growth across revenue, profitability and subscriber base. In response, Netflix’s stock has soared.

“Ted is the content guy there, right? He just lives for film and TV and the art of that. I think Netflix is one of the few places that the co-CEO framework seems to work,” said UBS analyst John Hodulik. “It lets Ted do what he loves doing, and content is key to the growth of that business. While Greg, he seems to be more of the nuts and bolts business background.”

There’s also the promotion of Mike Cavanagh to president of Comcast in 2022 after previously serving as CFO of the cable giant since 2015. Cavanagh’s remit expanded months later when Jeff Shell exited his CEO role at Comcast’s NBCUniversal, and Cavanagh took over direct leadership of the company’s TV, film and theme parks units.

Under Cavanagh’s leadership, NBCUniversal has made a variety of strategic moves. Soon after he assumed leadership of NBCUniversal, the unit was restructured. About a year later at Sun Valley, Cavanagh began laying the groundwork for NBCUniversal to spin out most of its cable TV networks.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has publicly said the cable spinout, one of Comcast’s most significant moves in years, was Cavanagh’s idea.

Cavanagh, who was previously co-CEO of JPMorgan’s corporate and investment bank, is frequently put forth by industry insiders as the heir apparent to Comcast’s lead role, and his oversight of NBCUniversal gives him the chance to embed in the sports and entertainment side of the business after much focus on the cable and broadband parent company.

A shift toward financial expertise has been true in cable and broadband as well. Charter Communications’ current leader, Chris Winfrey, took on the CEO job after serving as CFO and COO under longtime cable executive Tom Rutledge. Since taking over, Winfrey has orchestrated various changes at the company, most recently the proposed acquisition of Cox Communications.

It’s even extended to the restaurant industry in recent months, where CFOs have been tapped for the CEO role at companies such as Panera Brands, Jack In The Box and most recently, Yum! Brands.

And it could play a role in the selection of Disney’s successor to CEO Iger.

The Disney board has been narrowing down potential successors to Iger, with an announcement expected next year. Disney’s four chairs — Disney Entertainment Co-Chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro — have been interviewed for the top job.

Walden’s deep history in entertainment programming puts her in a favorable position, but CNBC earlier reported that criticism of her business acumen could affect her chances, despite her overseeing the streaming unit when it reached profitability. CFO Hugh Johnston has been speculated to be part of the conversation, but he’s not part of the formal succession planning, said a person familiar with the matter who declined to be named speaking about internal matters.

Still, it’s very much undecided who will be the next CEO of Disney and the process is in early stages, said the person. Iger’s contract was extended through the end of 2026, giving the board more time for the due diligence process, CNBC previously reported.

A Disney representative declined to comment.

— CNBC’s Amelia Lucas and Alex Sherman contributed to this article.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of CNBC. Versant would be the parent company of CNBC under the proposed cable spinout. Comcast is a part owner of Hulu.