Robert Blair leaves Warner Bros. Discovery after 25 years

The president of WBD international TV distribution is departing amid a restructuring of the company, with a Telepictures exec also leaving.
July 25, 2023

Robert Blair (pictured), president of Warner Bros. Discovery’s international TV distribution, is leaving the company after 25 years as part of an internal restructuring. His position will not be replaced as the company seeks to streamline its content licensing business.

Blair has been overseeing international distribution for film, TV and digital programming for HBO, Warner Bros. and Turner since 2019. As president of international TV sales, he oversaw the licensing of titles, including feature film The Flash and big-budget fantasy shows Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.

Blair joined the company in 1998 as general manager of Canadian operations. Prior to that, he was director of TV at PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.

Amid the WBD restructure, David McGuire, EVP of programming and development at prodco Telepictures—a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Television Group—is leaving the company after more than 30 years.

While mostly focused on unscripted shows during his time at Telepictures, McGuire developed the preschool series Little Ellen (about a young Ellen Degeneres), which premiered on HBO Max in 2021. He also developed family-friendly competition shows Ellen’s Next Great Designer and Ellen’s Game of Games.

Blair and McGuire’s departures follow Mike Darnell’s (Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts) exit earlier this month from his long-held post as president of unscripted TV at Warner Bros.

WBD started off this year recovering from heavy content cuts and restructuring during 2022, including changes at its animation teams. It seems to still be feeling the echoes of these changes and WBD’s Q1 2023 report, released in May, shows the company earned US$10.7 billion, a 5% decline from the same period last year.

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