HBO Chief 'Agnostic' Where Content Goes Following AT&T-Time Warner Deal--Update
October 25 2016 - 02:29PM
Dow Jones News
By Deepa Seetharaman and Keach Hagey
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. -- In the wake of AT&T Inc.'s $85.4
billion deal to buy Time Warner Inc., HBO Chief Executive Richard
Plepler called the premium network's recent multiplatform
distribution deal with AT&T a "template for what you can see
going forward."
That HBO distribution deal, completed the same week that the
chiefs of AT&T and Time Warner sat down over salmon to begin
considering a merger, was touted by the two companies as "historic"
for the way that it would give AT&T subscribers of all stripes
-- linear TV, online streaming and wireless -- a way to buy HBO
through AT&T.
Of particular note was that it marked the first time that a
wireless company had agreed to sell HBO to customers through their
mobile phone bills, though the exact nature of those packages
hasn't been announced.
"We don't care how they sell it," said Mr. Plepler, speaking on
a panel at the WSJDLive tech conference with Vice Media Chief
Executive Shane Smith in Laguna Beach, Calif. Mr. Plepler said he
remains "agnostic" about where the content of one of Time Warner's
crown jewels appears.
"A sub is a sub," he said.
Mr. Plepler's HBO is among the premium assets of Time Warner's
extensive cache of media content, which also includes cable
networks CNN, TBS and TNT as well as the Warner Bros. film and TV
studio.
AT&T's cash-and-stock acquisition of Time Warner will blend
those properties with AT&T's millions of pay-TV and wireless
customers, forming a conglomerate that both produces content and
distributes it. That content includes a joint daily newscast
cocreated by HBO and Vice and a branded Vice channel on HBO's
streaming service, HBO Now.
The daily news show is part of the duo's bid to tap the market
for millennial audiences and find what Mr. Plepler called "new,
addicted subscribers." Mr. Smith said the show strives to strike a
nonpartisan tone.
"Everyone is trying to label you, everyone is trying to paint
you with a brush," Mr. Smith said. "It's just a war to keep you in
the center."
Mr. Plepler declined to give viewership numbers for Vice's new
daily news program, which launched in late September, but said it
cumulatively drew "hundreds of thousands" of viewers in its first
two weeks on the air. Those viewers have been evenly split between
HBO's linear television platform, where it airs at 7:30 p.m. every
weeknight, and streaming platforms like HBO Go and HBO Now,
according to a person familiar with the matter -- a sign that it is
reaching its target younger audience.
But ultimately, Mr. Plepler said "I don't really care" what the
numbers are for Vice News because his business is based on
subscribers, not advertising. "If this is additive to our brand,
we'll take the time for it to build an audience."
Mr. Smith said the majority of Vice's growth now comes through
"licensing money" as opposed to advertising. With Vice's news
content on HBO, forfeiting ads is important for keeping the
attention of young viewers and gives Vice "a free wheel to go after
anybody," he said.
Write to Deepa Seetharaman at Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com and
Keach Hagey at keach.hagey@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 25, 2016 14:14 ET (18:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
AT&T (NYSE:T)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
AT&T (NYSE:T)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024