TWX Time Warner Inc. New

   (FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 1/8/16) 
   By Chelsey Dulaney and Keach Hagey 

Time Warner Inc. said on Thursday that it has extended Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes's employment contract through 2020.

The three-year extension doesn't change his compensation, which was valued at $32.9 million in 2014. Mr. Bewkes has been Time Warner's CEO since 2008, adding the chairman title in 2009.

Mr. Bewkes, who worked his way up the ranks of Time Warner, has avoided making big, risky acquisitions and has streamlined the company over the past few years. He spun off its cable systems, AOL unit and magazine publishing unit, creating a company more focused on content.

Time Warner owns the Warner Bros. film and TV studio and major cable networks such as HBO, CNN and TNT.

Time Warner's shares gained $1.58 to $70.20 in 4 p.m. trading Thursday, and are up 162% since he became CEO.

But the last six months have been challenging for the entire media industry. Fears that consumers are dropping cable TV subscriptions spooked investors, and Time Warner's stock has fallen nearly 20% during that period.

In November, Time Warner lowered its profit guidance, citing a host of factors including cable-TV subscriber declines, plans to invest more in digital platforms and the effect of a strong dollar.

At the same time, Mr. Bewkes announced that the company was considering holding back some of its television shows for longer on its own platforms before selling them to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.

In 2014, Mr. Bewkes led Time Warner in rebuffing a takeover bid from 21st Century Fox Inc. that valued the company at $85 a share.

In the wake of the rebuffed bid, Time Warner helped set off a trend in the industry when Mr. Bewkes decided to offer HBO "over the top," or to people without pay-TV subscriptions. He promised aggressive earnings targets, helping to send the stock above Fox's offer price for a while. On Thursday, the stock changed hands at about where it was before Fox made its move.

The Wall Street Journal was part of the same company as 21st Century Fox until mid-2013.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 08, 2016 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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