Warner Bros. TV Boss Channing Dungey Issues a Warning About What Happens If the Paramount Deal Drags On

Warner Bros. Television Group has spent the past several months acting less like a studio with an uncertain future and more like one in the middle of a full-blown expansion. Between splashy new series orders and a wave of high-profile renewals, the division has kept its creative engine running at full speed even as questions swirl around who will ultimately own it.

That momentum has been driven in part by some major overall deals getting locked back in. This summer, the studio reupped its megadeal with John Wells, the producer behind HBO Max’s “The Pitt,” which already picked up four Emmys the weekend before the ceremony’s main night. Variety also exclusively revealed that Matt Reeves and his 6th & Idaho shingle, the team behind “The Penguin,” have re-signed their overall deal with the studio as well.

But in a new interview, Warner Bros. Television Group chairperson and CEO Channing Dungey made clear that continued momentum isn’t guaranteed indefinitely. Speaking with Variety, Dungey said future projects could be put on pause “soon” if the ongoing Paramount Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery “continues to go on” without resolution.

“We haven’t really put anything on hold,” Dungey told Variety. “I think that if this deal continues to go on, we may soon. With some of these longer-term overall deals, it’s not that you’re putting anything on pause, but if you’re going to be making a big long-term commitment, certainly we’re going to want to discuss that with our partners across the aisle.”

It’s a notable admission given just how active the studio has been throughout the uncertainty. Since January, Warner Bros. TV has landed 12 new series orders, most recently the long-awaited “Manifest” franchise revival at Netflix, titled “Arrivals: A New Manifest Mystery.” Other new pickups include the DC-themed mockumentary “The People v. Gorilla Grodd” at HBO Max, Brett Goldstein’s romantic comedy “Escorted” and horror drama “Stillwater” at Prime Video, “Afterlife With Archie” at Disney+, and the sitcom “I Suck at Girls” at Netflix.

The studio has matched that with another dozen renewals across nearly every major platform. That list includes “The Pitt,” “It: Welcome to Derry,” “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe,” and “Rooster” at HBO Max, “Leanne,” “Untamed,” and “Running Point” at Netflix, “Shrinking” and “Bad Monkey” at Apple TV, and broadcast staples “Memories of a Killer” on Fox and “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” on CBS. “Abbott Elementary,” currently the top broadcast comedy in multiplatform viewing among adults 18 to 49, is also returning for a sixth season on ABC.

Beyond those deals, Dungey’s team is still investing heavily in the upcoming “Harry Potter” series for HBO Max, along with “Scooby-Doo: Origins” for Netflix, one of the platform’s most anticipated new shows. Her broader portfolio also spans unscripted hits like “The Real Housewives: New York City,” “The Real Housewives: Salt Lake City,” and the 30th season of “The Voice.”

Despite the scale of that slate, Dungey acknowledged the ownership situation looming over all of it. “Certainly when I look up toward my boss and everything that’s happening on the corporate level, it’s a complicated time,” she told Variety. “But it is not impacting our day-to-day business in any real way… My focus is continuing to work with the best creatives, develop the best shows, find the best homes for them, and that’s all been happening.”

That balancing act between business as usual and corporate uncertainty has defined much of Warner Bros. Discovery’s year, as the studio continues negotiating what a future under Paramount Skydance and the Ellison family might actually look like. For now, Dungey’s message is clear: the deals keep flowing, but the clock is ticking on how long that can last without more clarity from above.

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