Nathaniel Brown To Depart As Warner Bros Discovery Corp Comms Chief

Anthony D'Alessandro
·6-min read

Nathaniel Brown is departing Warner Bros Discovery as its Corp Comms Chief, Deadline has learned. It is an amicable departure, we hear. Brown will segue out of the post during the next month.

“I realize there is never a perfect or easy time to make such a transition, but the start of the new year feels as good as any,” said Brown in a note to employees (read it in full below). In the immediate future, Brown plans to take some down time before returning to the corp comms field.

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In a note to employees, WBD CEO David Zaslav praised Brown, saying, “I have been incredibly fortunate to have him by my side during one of the most pivotal and transformative periods for our industry.”

Brown was named to the post after the merger came together back in May 2022.

Brown led global communications and media relations and served as the conglom’s lead spokesperson. He previously held that post for Discovery Inc. and Zas as the company’s EVP Global Communications. In total, it’s been a five-year run for Brown between Discovery and the new WBD merger.

In his email today (read it in full below), Zaslav said the company is looking for a replacement for Brown. In the meantime Laura Watson, Head of Executive Comms, and Katie Martin Kelley, EVP Communication at Warner Bros Motion Picture Group, are overseeing WBD corp comms on an interim basis.

Brown joined Discovery in 2019, having previously served for seven years as SVP Corporate Affairs for 21st Century Fox and its predecessor News Corp. Prior to that he led communications for MTV and XM Satellite Radio, having begun his career in corporate media at Sony BMG Music. He’s played a key role in some of the industry’s largest and most prominent M&A, including Discovery’s merger with AT&T’s Warner Media, 21st Century Fox’s sale to Disney and the creation of SiriusXM.

Before the holidays, the media was shaken and stirred by headlines that Zaslav sat down with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish in Paramount’s corporate New York’s Times Square HQ about a possible merger. Wall Street immediately poured cold water on that notion for both embattled entertainment companies with their stock prices falling the morning after the news.

“It’s almost like in that movie scene where everyone’s got their hands up in the air, and they’re … running around in circles, they don’t know what to do,” said LightShed Partners’ Rich Greenfield on CNBC about the Par-WBD chatter last month.

Here is the note about Brown’s departure from Zaslav:

All –

I have some news that I wanted to share with you personally. Nathaniel Brown, our Chief Communications Officer, will be leaving the company after a truly remarkable five-year run. Nathaniel is hugely talented, one of the absolute best in the business and I have been incredibly fortunate to have him by my side during one of the most pivotal and transformative periods for our industry.
Since joining us in 2019 following an accomplished tenure at 21st Century Fox, he has been a tireless and formidable advocate for the company and for me. Among his many accomplishments, he played a critical role in positioning Discovery to acquire WarnerMedia and has continued to skillfully navigate a wide range of cross currents through the creation and restructuring of WBD.

Over the years, Nathaniel has built highly capable, cohesive teams and earned the well-deserved respect and admiration of leaders and colleagues at every level of the organization for his collaborative approach and expertise. At the same time, he has cultivated strong relationships with members of the press across the entire media landscape. Needless to say, we greatly appreciate Nathaniel’s extraordinary efforts and dedication and wish him the very best and continued success.

We are in the process of conducting a thoughtful and thorough search, internally and externally, for a new Comms leader and will let you know when we have selected a candidate. In the meantime, I have asked our head of executive communications, Laura Watson, and the head of comms for Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, Katie Martin Kelley, to oversee corporate communications on an interim basis.

Please join me in thanking Nathaniel for everything he has done!

David

Brown weighed with his own internal memo to staff:

All,

I have some personal news to share with you. After five amazing years at Discovery and now WBD, I am stepping down from my role as Chief Communications Officer.

I realize there is never a perfect or easy time to make such a transition, but the start of the new year feels as good as any. These last several years have been fast and unforgettable. I joined Discovery in 2019 after a great run at 21st Century Fox, culminating in 21CF’s sale to Disney. Since then, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to work alongside DZ as part of his leadership team and it has been an extraordinary ride,

particularly these last few years as DZ has architected Discovery’s acquisition of WarnerMedia and established Warner Bros. Discovery. The team has worked tirelessly to launch the new company and restructure it for the future. It has been a phenomenal experience, and I will be forever grateful to DZ and the many colleagues across WBD for their support, collaboration and friendship.
I have especially loved being in the trenches with what I believe is the best Comms team in the business. That is a testament to your incredible skill, grit, compassion and commitment. At the end of the day, it’s all about the people and we have spent so much of our waking hours together in meetings, on Zoom calls and on the phone, at all hours. I could not have asked for a better group to fight the good fight with.

I am looking forward to taking some time off. I plan to travel a bit and hope to get a chance to be a better partner, son, brother and friend. It might even be time to get a new puppy. Eventually, I will dive back into this profession I love, one that has continued to teach me new things and put me in the orbit of fantastic and fascinating people and interesting challenges. I am excited for this next chapter and will keep you posted.

I will transition out over the next month or so. The company is in the process of conducting a search, internally and externally, for my successor. In the meantime, the plan is for Laura Watson to oversee corporate communications and for Katie Martin Kelley to assist in handling corporate press inquiries on an interim basis. As I said, this is a fantastic team and I am confident you will continue to support them and one another through this next phase.

Thank you for everything – I will always treasure the many great memories we share and look forward to our paths crossing again in the not-too-distant future. Until then, know that I will be rooting you on from the stands as your biggest fan and wish you all the very best.

Nathaniel

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