Discovery Adding Kevin Mayer to Direct-to-Consumer Team

Kevin Mayer (Image credit: Dazn)

Former Disney executive Kevin Mayer will be a consultant to Discovery as it looks to create a streaming strategy for HBO Max and Discovery Plus after Discovery merges with AT&T’s WarnerMedia.

Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced Mayer’s role during Discovery’s third-quarter earnings call Wednesday morning.

Mayer oversaw the launch of Disney Plus before leaving Disney last year. He’s since become a media investor and chairman of Dazn.

Zaslav called Mayer a friend of 15 years and someone he has “a lot of knowledge about windowing and how different types of content perform,” added that Mayer “Had a lot of success at Disney.”

Discovery execs said that it expected the WarnerMedia transaction to close in mid-2022 and that the combination will have less debut than expected.

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.