WarnerMedia has become the latest media operation to announce that it is pulling out of Russia in the wake of the war in Ukraine. CEO Jason Kilar said the company was “pausing all new business in Russia.” This includes WarnerMedia channels such as Cartoon Network, as well as “halting all new content licensing with Russian entities, and pausing our planned theatrical and games releases.” The release of “The Batman” in Russia has since been paused.
While revenues from Russia are minor for diversified global media companies, halting movie releases and suspending programming is major.
“We are following this situation closely,” Kilar said in the note. “And future business decisions will be made with that context in mind.”
Although CNN has no plans to shut its Moscow bureau, it has suspended reporting for now until it can review the new law and assess whether it is possible to recommence.
In the span of the last 13 days, there has been an ever-increasing stream of major companies exiting the Russian market. As of yesterday, Discovery and Amazon Prime Video are also ceasing business in Russia. Discovery pulled 15 of its channels and Amazon stated, “We are also suspending access to Prime Video for customers based in Russia, and we will no longer be taking orders for New World, which is the only video game we sell directly in Russia.”
Related: How Roku, Netflix, and Others Dealing with Russian Content After Ukrainian Invasion