WarnerMedia Ousts Programming Team in Pivot Tied to HBO Max
WarnerMedia Ousts Programming Team in Pivot Tied to Online Focus
(Bloomberg) -- Jason Kilar, chief executive officer of WarnerMedia, is wasting no time reshaping AT&T Inc.’s entertainment division for the streaming era.
Two of his top deputies, Bob Greenblatt and Kevin Reilly, are leaving the company just weeks after the debut of HBO Max, the new online service they oversaw, the company said Friday. Greenblatt was chairman of entertainment and head of direct-to-consumer. Reilly was chief content officer for the streaming service.
Andy Forssell, who previously worked for Kilar at the Hulu streaming service, will be in charge of the business side of HBO Max, while Ann Sarnoff, who heads Warner Bros., will lead programming across the company, including HBO Max and cable networks such as TNT.
Kilar framed the restructuring as essential to focusing the company on HBO Max and taking advantage of the opportunity in streaming. AT&T has invested billions of dollars in programming and new technology for the streaming service, which seeks to attract millions of customers who don’t currently pay for HBO by offering a broader range of programs.
“We have what I believe is one of the greatest opportunities in the history of media, which is to deliver our beloved stories and experiences directly to hundreds of millions of consumers across the globe,” Kilar wrote in a note to staff. “I believe it is vital that we change how we are organized, that we simplify, and that we act boldly and with urgency.”
As part of the changes, the company will be firing staff, though Kilar didn’t specify the scope of the reductions.
Remaking TV
Media companies long reliant on pay TV have spent years consolidating and restructuring to compete with streaming services from Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., which have built new entertainment giants from the ground up.
After creating and introducing streaming services, many of those companies are now restructuring their studios, networks and executive ranks to emphasize online viewing over traditional cable networks. Earlier this week, Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal fired staff and reorganized its TV business in much the same way that WarnerMedia did Friday.
AT&T has now restructured its entertainment division twice in the two years since it bought Time Warner Inc. and renamed it WarnerMedia. The heads of the old company’s three divisions, HBO, Warner Bros. and Turner Networks, all left within a year of the merger closing.
John Stankey, CEO of the phone giant, hired Greenblatt just last year to oversee programming across the company’s TV networks and streaming services, and hired Sarnoff to lead Warner Bros.
Stoking Doubts
The departure of the two executives will stoke doubts about the early performance of HBO Max, which has yet to come up with an original hit series. Under the old structure, programming teams for HBO and HBO Max routinely bid against each other for projects. Under the new model, HBO programming chief Casey Bloys will oversee programming for both HBO and HBO Max, as well as the cable networks TNT and TBS.
With Friday’s changes, Kilar is turning to executives who are new to WarnerMedia to help guide it into the future.
Kilar’s reign was expected to be turbulent when took over as the head of WarnerMedia in May. He comes from the world of Silicon Valley, working at Amazon and investing in technology companies. His primary experience in media was as the founding CEO of the Hulu streaming service, and his belief in the internet’s role in entertainment’s future is seen in the moves Friday.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.