WarnerMedia Shifts Around Management Team To Simplify Programming (T)

By Annie Baker ● Aug 9, 2020
  • WarnerMedia, the media and entertainment company arm of AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), has shifted around its programming team under the leadership of CEO Jason Kilar

WarnerMedia, the media and entertainment company arm of AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), has shifted around its programming team under the leadership of CEO Jason Kilar. Bob Greenblatt and Kevin Reilly are departing from WarnerMedia following the launch of HBO Max. Greenblatt was chairman of entertainment and head of direct-to-consumer and Reilly was the chief content officer.

Andy Forssell previously worked with Kilar at Hulu and he is going to oversee the business end of HBO Max. And Warner Bros. head Ann Sarnoff is going to lead the programming across the company including HBO Max and cable networks like TNT.

“This group will oversee all WarnerMedia television series and motion picture development, production and programming, partnering with Andy to ensure HBO Max is successful globally,” said Kilar in an internal company memo via CNN.

AT&T spent billions of dollars in programming and developing technology for HBO Max and the company is aiming to attract millions of subscribers who do not subscribe to HBO already.

“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,” added Kilar in the memo. “I believe it is vital that we change how we are organized, that we simplify, and that we act boldly and with urgency.”

With the restructuring, WarnerMedia will be laying off some staff members. AT&T CEO John Stankey had brought in Greenblatt last year to oversee programming on the company’s TV networks.

A new model is going to be established for HBO going forward as well. In the old structure, the programming teams for HBO and HBO Max bid against each other for content. But now HBO programming head Casey Bloys will oversee programming for HBO and HBO Max along with cable networks like TNT and TBS.

Prior to becoming CEO of WarnerMedia, Kilar was the founding CEO of Hulu. And he spent several years working at Amazon before that.