The top of the org chart at Warner Bros. Discovery features a new entry: Thursday, the media conglomerate announced its appointment of Luis Silberwasser as chairman and CEO of its sports division.
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports encompasses such properties as Turner Sports on this side of the Atlantic and Eurosport Networks on the other. Hiring Silberwasser away from his previous role as president of TelevisaUnivision and having him report to WBD CEO David Zaslav reflects the importance the newly-merged firm places on sports as a core content pillar worldwide.
Zaslav noted that in the firm’s Q1 earnings release, saying “We are putting together the strategic framework and organization to drive our balanced approach to growing our businesses and maximizing the value of our storytelling, news and sports.”
WBD’s press release quoted Silberwasser as saying the sports division “boasts some of the most compelling on-air talent, world class production values and the broadest media rights in the world.”
As the release notes, this move represents a sort of homecoming for Silberwasser, who worked in a variety of roles at Discovery Communications that culminated with him working as EVP and chief content officer at Discovery Networks International from 2010 through 2014. His most recent role began in 2021, when Univision Communications hired him to run its U.S. networks group months before it acquired Televisa.
Zaslav had named much of the merged company’s C-suite days before WarnerMedia and Discovery completed the merger April 11. Many of these appointments involved promotions of Discovery veterans, while WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar elected to leave the company.
Since then, WBD has been making such content moves as shuttering the CNN+ over-the-top streaming service a month after its launch and inking a joint venture with BT to launch a premium sports offering in the U.K. and Ireland. Overseeing that venture will be among the first key tasks of the company’s newest high-profile hire.