AT&T unveiled plans to restructure its Hollywood assets, in a reorganisation that saw two influential media chiefs exit, while giving more power to CNN’s Jeff Zucker and Kevin Tsujihara, the head of the Warner Bros film studio.
The announcement came after a tumultuous week as Richard Plepler, chief executive of HBO and a singular force in Hollywood, last Thursday said he was leaving the company — days after AT&T cleared its final legal hurdle to take over WarnerMedia. David Levy, chief executive of Turner Entertainment, also resigned.
AT&T will fold HBO into one business unit with other television channels TNT, TBS, and truTV. The company has brought in Robert Greenblatt, the former chairman of NBC Entertainment behind hits like “This Is Us”, to manage the business.
News and sports will be combined into another division, with CNN chief Mr Zucker now presiding over CNN, Turner’s sports network, AT&T regional sports channels and the Bleacher Report, the website.
The Warner Bros film studio, under chief executive Kevin Tsujihara, will add a “global kids and young adults” business, aiming to capitalise on tie-ins for animation, licensed toys and gaming.
The changes came after John Stankey, the AT&T veteran who is now running WarnerMedia, spent the past several months planning what to do with the phone giant’s newly acquired Hollywood assets.
Mr Stankey said in a statement that this was “the right management team to strategically position our leading portfolio of brands, world-class talent and rich library of intellectual property for future growth”.
While HBO and other Time Warner television networks had operated with a high degree of autonomy under previous ownership, AT&T wants to combine them to achieve a “more co-ordinated approach to the company’s original programming”, according to a statement. This plan did not sit well with Mr Plepler, who had enjoyed his independence in running HBO, leading to his resignation, according to people close to the situation.
AT&T shares were down 1 per cent in early morning trading.
