As Turner Classic Movies (TCM) prepares to offer a July 4 lineup of patriotic classic movies including 1776, The Declaration of Independence and Take Me Out to the Ball Game, industry observers still remain concerned about the future of the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned service.
Two weeks after releasing several of TCM’s main executives as part of a recent run of WBD layoffs and fielding a call from Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson about the direction of the service, WBD CEO David Zaslav has recently looked to quell concerns in the entertainment industry and among the network’s passionate fans about its future.
Late last month, Zaslav handed creative programming and development control of TCM to Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group executives Michael de Luca and Pam Abdy. according to published reports. Also, TCM VP of programming and content strategy Charles Tabesh will remain with the network.
Rejoice, classic film fans!Charles Tabesh — SVP of Programming and the architect of all that is great about TCM — has been unfired. And the TCM Classic Film Festival has been confirmed for 2024! #SaveTCM worked (at least for now)!https://t.co/EzrPPLcSTd #TCMParty #TCMFF pic.twitter.com/7EcSVEPXv1June 28, 2023
TCM will be led on the business side by Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Discovery Family and Boomerang president Michael Ouweleen, who took over for departed TCM general manager Pola Changnon.
Still, industry observers will continue to watch closely what transpires around TCM in the near future. Succession star Brian Cox was recently quoted in a recent Above The Line article called TCM “one of the most vital resources” in the industry and was “horrified” after reading about the executive layoffs at the network.
“For me, the history of cinema, the watching of it, and the way that TCM presents it are incredible resources because they really make me understand how far we’ve traveled,” he added. “But also how far we haven’t traveled.”
