Earned & PaidWarner Bros Discovery
Warner Bros Discovery spent $2.10B on advertising and marketing in fiscal 2025, down 2.2% on the year before and +439% since 2019. That's 5.6% of revenue, more than in 2019: leaning in.
Marketing spend by year
Bars: advertising and marketing expense, $B (10-K). Line: spend as a share of revenue. Years where the filing's revenue line isn't comparable are left out of the line.
Say vs do
We found no statement about the size of Warner Bros Discovery's marketing budget on its earnings calls or in its 10-Ks, so here is its record against its peers.
What they said
No statement about the size of its marketing budget.
What they did
| Year | Marketing spend | Change | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $2.10B | -2.2% | 5.6% |
| FY2024 | $2.15B | -11.4% | 5.5% |
| FY2023 | $2.43B | -3.6% | 5.9% |
| FY2022 | $2.52B | +102.0% | 7.5% |
| FY2021 | $1.25B | +202.7% | 10.2% |
| FY2020 | $412M | +5.6% | 3.9% |
Against its peers. Compared with the 3 other Media advertisers we track (Disney, Netflix, Fox): since 2019 its marketing spend went +439% (peer median +51%); its share of revenue moved +2.1 pts (median +0.7); last year -2.2% (median +12.5%).
How we check: a statement gets a verdict only when it's clearly about the size of the whole company's marketing budget over a full fiscal year; we compare it with the advertising and marketing expense in that year's 10-K. Statements about one quarter, one brand or channel, or the mix between brand and performance can't be checked against annual filings.
What they say about media
The marketing channels it talks about using for itself on earnings calls and in its 10-Ks and 10-Qs, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- Sponsorships & athletes “The increase for the three months ended September 30, 2024 was primarily attributable to higher overhead expenses and marketing expenses related to the broadcast of the Olympics in Europe.” 10-Q · Nov 7, 2024 · source
- Creative campaigns “We are utilizing all of our levers to effectively and efficiently acquire and retain subscribers, including a growing list of global partnerships with many of the world's leading distributors, and exciting pipeline of originals that we believe will surprise and delight consumers…” David M. Zaslav on the earnings call · Feb 22, 2021 · source
- Retail media “Most consumers in the U.S. will be on Amazon between now and the end of the year as we have this big holiday shopping season, and I'm happy to say Food Network Kitchen will be featured prominently across the site.” Peter Faricy on the earnings call · Nov 7, 2019 · source
What they see in the market
What its leaders and filings say about the ad market: its own ad business, or the channels advertisers use, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- Linear TV “And sort of on the advertising side, we've kind of held a similar rate as earlier in the year.” Gunnar Wiedenfels on the earnings call · Aug 13, 2026 · source
- Sponsorships & athletes “Advertising revenue decreased 8% for the three months ended March 31, 2026, primarily attributable to the absence of the NBA in 2026, which had a negative impact of $133 million to advertising revenue, and audience declines in domestic networks of 8%, partially offset by an…” 10-Q · May 6, 2026 · source
- Connected TV & streaming “Advertising revenue increased 20% in 2025, primarily attributable to an increase in ad-lite subscribers, partially offset by domestic pricing pressures.” 10-K · Feb 27, 2026 · source
- Creative campaigns “We have just launched our Binge advertising product pause ads. We're working on more.” David M. Zaslav on the earnings call · Apr 28, 2021 · source
- Affiliate & lead gen “We're growing both our ad revenue and affiliate revenue.” David M. Zaslav on the earnings call · Apr 28, 2021 · source
In the news
- Warner Bros Advertising Launches Scene and Emotion Targeting content-technology.com · Sep 30, 2026 · platforms & adtech
- Streamers Promo Power Ranking: HBO Max shines a green light in August StreamTV Insider · Sep 28, 2026 · measurement