Warner Bros. Discovery appoints president of content sales as Jim Wuthrich steps down

Succession

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has rejigged its distribution operations by appointing David Decker to president of content sales, with veteran executive Jim Wuthrich stepping down at the end of the year.

Decker’s remit will include oversight of the division responsible for licensing and distributing all WBD-produced film, television, animation, and digital content to all third-party platforms across North America, as well as direct-to-consumer digital and physical retail sales.

He starts 2 January and reports into Bruce Campbell, chief revenue & strategy officer at WBD.

Decker joined WBD forerunner Warner Bros. almost two decades ago and was previously WEVP of content licensing, a role in which he sold shows such as The Jennifer Hudson Show to local networks across the US.

He was named EVP of cable & SVOD sales at Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in 2015 and before that worked in the Worldwide Television Distribution arm, overseeing both domestic and international activities.

Wuthrich, meanwhile, had been with WBD and its forerunners for 24 years and was a key player on both home entertainment strategy and the global licensing of Warner Bros. content.

The rejig comes amid a sharp shift in strategy for the Succession studio as it looks to increase third party sales, with CEO David Zaslav and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels admitting in September that the company is “firing up” its distribution efforts having previously focused on a DTC-led strategy under its WarnerMedia days.

In making the appointment, Campbell said that content sales would be “a key driver of our company in the years ahead,” adding that he is “excited to see David’s expertise and collaborative leadership style applied to the whole of our Content Distribution business.”

He added: “Jim brought tremendous value and industry-defining strategy to Warner Bros. It is truly remarkable, and we thank him for that. If you know Jim, you know it will be interesting to see what he does next.”