HBO Distribution Exec Bernadette Aulestia Exiting Amid WarnerMedia Shifts

As WarnerMedia’s overhaul of its portfolio continues, veteran HBO executive Bernadette Aulestia is exiting her post as president of global distribution.

A network rep, confirming reports about Aulestia’s departure, underscored that she plans to stay in her post while overseeing the transition to the new structure.

AT&T-owned WarnerMedia is breaking down the long-established barriers between business units. HBO from its inception has operated with a high degree of autonomy, determining its own production, marketing and distribution strategies. The parent company now favors a portfolio approach that will commingle Turner’s networks with HBO.

Aulestia joined HBO in 1997, rising through the ranks to hold several titles in distribution, affiliate relations and marketing. Among her accomplishments at the premium network was designing and overseeing the execution of its first national Hispanic brand campaign and the creation of HBO Latino.

In recent years, she has been one of the key execs involved with the rollout of HBO Now, the stand-alone, direct-to-consumer streaming service. As the company has looked to expand beyond traditional partner deals with MVPDs, it also in 2018 experienced the first carriage impasse in its 46-year history, a blackout on Dish Network satellite systems. That dispute remains unresolved.

Prior to her HBO run, Aulestia worked at Univision, Turner and Kidder, Peabody.

The exit follows that of longtime network boss Richard Plepler amid a corporate restructuring. Former NBCUniversal executive Bob Greenblatt has been installed by WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey to oversee the rollout of a direct-to-consumer streaming service, which will launch in beta by the end of the year and more fully in 2020.

News of Aulestia’s exit came the same day that Kevin Tsujihara stepped down as head of Warner Bros., just two weeks after he had emerged as one of the executives with greater influence as a result of the restructuring.

CNBC first reported about Aulestia’s departure.