WBD centralises international content acquisitions teams under Royce Battleman

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has promoted Royce Battleman to executive VP of global content acquisitions as part of a reorganisation of its streaming acquisitions teams.

Royce Battleman

Battleman, who previously led US acquisitions for WBD-owned networks, Max and Discovery+, will see her role expand to include all global territories, including North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

In the new structure, Battleman now sits atop a single division of regional heads comprised of US content acquisitions VPs Elizabeth Bannan and Tiffany Tulba, EMEA senior VP of programming and acquisitions Ragnhild Thorbech, head of streaming content in APAC Magdalene Ew, and Lat Am acquisitions and programming head Andres Mendoza.

Battleman will report to WBD’s chief financial and strategy officer for streaming, Joshua Walker. She has been within the WBD, WarnerMedia and HBO ecosystem for two decades, starting with HBO in the mid 2000s and rising to senior VP of business affairs.

WBD said the new structure will be pivotal in “shaping the acquired content strategies for Max and Discovery+, ensuring that their offerings remain innovative, engaging and compelling for global audiences.” The company also said there were no lay-offs as a result of the re-org.

“Establishing this global team allows us to better manage worldwide and multi-regional content partners and optimise deals across all regions,” said Walker. “The structure will ensure that our acquisitions are tightly aligned with our global content strategy, planning and analysis, and financials for Max and discovery+ platforms worldwide.”