HBO Chief 'Agnostic' Where Content Goes Following AT&T, Time Warner Deal
October 25 2016 - 01:06PM
Dow Jones News
By Deepa Seetharaman
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. -- In the wake of AT&T Inc.'s $85.4
billion deal last week to buy Time Warner Inc., HBO Chief Executive
Richard Plepler says he remains "agnostic" about where the content
of one of Time Warner's crown jewels appears.
He pointed to a deal HBO reached with AT&T late this summer
for the phone carrier to broadcast HBO on TV and mobile. Mr.
Plepler described it as "a bit of a template for what you're going
to see going forward." That affiliate deal, he said, is structured
to incentivize subscriber growth, not exclusivity.
"I'm running a business based on brand," said Mr. Plepler,
speaking on a panel at the WSJDLive conference with Vice Media
Chief Executive Shane Smith. "We'll take the time to build the
audience."
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. Smith said the majority of Vice's growth now comes through
"licensing money" as opposed to advertising. 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
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 25, 2016 12:51 ET (16:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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