Bewkes: Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara Staying Following AT&T Merger

2 Nov, 2016 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Time Warner CEO says AT&T merger should widen consumer appeal for TV Everywhere

Following consummation of AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner, Kevin Tsujihara, CEO of Warner Bros. Entertainment, is expected to remain in his position, along with senior executives at HBO and Turner Broadcasting, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes tolds analysts.

Speaking Nov. 2 on the fiscal call, Bewkes said he would also continue through the closing and “quite a period of transition after that.”

The CEO, who has headed Time Warner since 2008, reiterated comments by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson having no desire to upend senior management at Time Warner.

“That's the essence of Time Warner, and if you listen to Randall, and I've talked to him and all his top management for quite some time now, they are very understanding of the need to keep this company excelling and growing,” Bewkes said.

Tsujihara, who once headed Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, succeeded Barry Meyer as CEO of Warner Bros. on March 1, 2013, and as chairman in December, having previously served as president of Warner Bros.

Separately, Bewkes said the merger would help mainstream TV Everywhere — the oft maligned digital strategy pay-TV operators hoped would stem consumer migration to third-party subscription streaming services.

Joking that he couldn’t remember what TV Everywhere was, Bewkes said the AT&T merger would help widen consumer appeal to on-demand programming and enhanced user-interfaces.

“[The merger] will help speed that up and it'll make yet another platform and interface available to all networks and therefore give a national offering for consumers increasing. I think it'll basically spur everybody, other networks, other distributors, to offer more VOD and better interfaces. And that's good for everybody.”

 

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