Mere weeks after activist investor Elliott Management publicly pressed AT&T to slash costs and dial down its acquisitions strategy, it appears as if Chairman-CEO Randall Stephenson has knuckled under to those demands. Speaking today on AT&T’s third-quarter earnings call, Stephenson laid out a three-year plan that includes a pledge to conduct a comprehensive review of all non-essential businesses that may be be sold or spun off, while also making a commitment to retire all the debt related to its $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. Stephenson also said that he plans to stay aboard through at least 2020. This is particularly important, as speculation that he was about to hand the reins to WarnerMedia boss John Stankey may have been one of the factors that precipitated Elliott’s decision to put the squeeze on the AT&T board. “I believe we’re on the threshold of something really remarkable, in terms of the next chapter of AT&T’s storied history,” Stephenson said. “I have every intention of being here, and I will be here through 2020.” Stephenson added that when the time comes for AT&T to choose his successor, the CEO and chairmanship positions will be made separate, a split for which Elliott advocated in its Sept. 9 letter to the board. Stankey, who recently was upped to chief operating officer at AT&T, remains the heir apparent. “Following five-plus years of heavy investment, it’s now time to reap the rewards of these investments and deliver... Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'
[ Advertising Age | 2019-10-28 20:32:03 UTC ]
In January 2019, Xandr and WarnerMedia headed to the Consumer Electronics Show as new collaborators, since parent company AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner had closed only a few months prior. One busy year later, company executives are planning for an even more integrated 2020. They're deep... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2020-01-09 15:00:29 UTC ]
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Audience Network, which has been on shaky ground since parent company AT&T bought Time Warner (now called WarnerMedia) in 2018, will soon be no more. AT&T said on Wednesday that it is pulling the plug on Audience Network, and will "transition" it this spring to a preview channel for HBO... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2020-01-09 00:45:55 UTC ]
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The Cartoon Network’s top executive has stepped down, joining the growing roster of former Time Warner executives departing the company following its takeover by AT&T Inc. Christina Miller, a... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2019-11-27 17:35:13 UTC ]
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As connected TV usage continues to skyrocket, linear and digital viewing is blurring like never before. New streaming services are rapidly accelerating the evolution of the TV industry. At the Convergent TV summit, Adweek editors spoke with the innovators and leaders at the forefront of this... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2019-11-05 23:00:52 UTC ]
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Mere weeks after activist investor Elliott Management publicly pressed AT&T to slash costs and dial down its acquisitions strategy, it appears as if Chairman-CEO Randall Stephenson has knuckled under to those demands. Speaking today on AT&T’s third-quarter earnings call, Stephenson laid... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-10-28 20:32:03 UTC ]
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AT&T will review its portfolio for assets it can sell off, pay down debt related to its Time Warner acquisition and add 2 board members as part of a plan to boost results Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2019-10-28 15:17:23 UTC ]
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When speaking to the investor community for the first time about Peacock, Steve Burke didn’t exactly fling open the metaphorical kimono. In response to analysts’ queries about the nascent streaming service, the NBCUniversal CEO said his team is keeping details about the pricing and promotion of... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-10-24 19:47:42 UTC ]
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Telecommunications giant Spectrum Inc. is investing nearly $2 million in a Northern Kentucky facility ahead of a push to hire on 300 more workers. Spectrum, born from the acquisition of Time Warner Cable by Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR), is investing $1.7 million in upgrades to its... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2019-10-11 16:16:40 UTC ]
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The recent media mergers could help the combined companies to secure more production deals with streaming services. The post Digital media companies consolidating should boost their forays into Hollywood appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2019-10-09 04:01:45 UTC ]
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Welcome to the another edition of Ad Age Sports Media Brief, a weekly roundup of news from every zone of the sports media spray chart, including the latest on broadcast/cable/streaming, sponsorships, endorsements, gambling and tech. Fear Strikes Out Viciousness and stupidity are as endemic to... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-10-04 22:01:54 UTC ]
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Welcome to Ad Age’s Wake-Up Call, our daily roundup of advertising, marketing, media and digital news. If you're reading this online or in a forwarded email, here's the link to sign up for our daily newsletter. You can also get an audio version of this briefing on your Alexa device. Day One of... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-09-24 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Canada’s women-led publishers are in a unique position to make more diverse voices heard. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-09-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
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After putting in a quarter-century as the head of CBS’s marketing efforts, George Schweitzer has begun mapping out his final campaign. The network’s marketing director will step down from his post at the end of the 2019-20 broadcast season, whereupon he’ll transition to a new role as a special... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-09-17 18:55:53 UTC ]
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Philip Morris International, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes in overseas markets, is in talks to reunite with Altria Group more than 10 years after the tobacco giants split their operations. The deal would be the biggest since AT&T Inc. bid for Time Warner in 2016. Philip Morris had a... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-08-27 18:36:32 UTC ]
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Notice more TV ads lately? You’re not imagining it. The amount of commercial time on cable TV keeps increasing as networks try to make up for shrinking audiences by stuffing more ads into every hour of television. That’s despite years of promises to cut back on ads. Last quarter, commercial... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-08-02 17:18:39 UTC ]
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could reportedly further shrink its future offices at the Time Warner Center amid a global restructuring. The embattled financial institution signed a lease in May 2018 to move into a roughly 1.1... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2019-07-30 12:59:30 UTC ]
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could reportedly further shrink its future offices at the Time Warner Center amid a global restructuring. The embattled financial institution signed a lease in May 2018 to move into a roughly 1.1... To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2019-07-30 12:59:30 UTC ]
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As ad-tech outfits face a tighter and tighter squeeze from industry consolidation and impending regulations surrounding data privacy, investors are starting to take notice and funnel their dollars elsewhere. This was the sentiment heard across the stage at Adweek's NexTech Conference this week,... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2019-07-26 18:48:49 UTC ]
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If you can find a bookie who’ll take some action on the latest pay-TV carriage dispute, bet everything you have that the stalemate between AT&T and CBS will end before the 2019 NFL season kicks off in September. Like Time Warner Cable before them, the phone company and its DirecTV subsidiary... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-07-22 20:52:00 UTC ]
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Charter Communications Inc., the largest cable provider in New York, will be allowed to continue operating in New York after reaching an agreement with regulators. The state Public Service Commission approved a settlement with Charter today, reversing a decision it made a year earlier to kick... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2019-07-12 11:59:24 UTC ]
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