Latest in AT&T

AT&T CFO John Stephens described the groundbreaking simultaneous release of Wonder Woman 1984 in theaters and on HBO Max as “a win-win in a difficult situation.” In an online appearance Friday at the Morgan Stanley European Media, Tech and Telecom Conference, he complimented WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar and his staff…

John Stephens will retire as CFO of AT&T next March, ending a 28-year run at the company, and will hand the reins to WarnerMedia CFO Pascal Desroches. The change is slated to take effect on April 1. It comes as AT&T continues to work to lower its debt load and steer WarnerMedia through a major restructuring effort. A…

HBO Max has filled in a major gap in its distribution scheme, setting a deal with Amazon Fire TV to make the streaming service available in more than 40 million U.S. homes, starting Tuesday. The WarnerMedia offering, which debuted May 27, had been activated by 8.6 million customers as of September 30. Most of those…

A significant round of layoffs forecast last month at WarnerMedia is getting under way today. CEO Jason Kilar emailed staffers this morning, acknowledging the process is “painful” but also calling it a “critical” step in the AT&T division’s evolution. (See his full memo below.) The entertainment outfit has seen…

WarnerMedia parent AT&T today named former FCC chairman William Kennard chairman of the telecom giant’s board effective in January when current chair (and former CEO) Randall Stephenson retires. AT&T announced its plan to elect an independent chairman when Stephenson, who held both positions since 2007, stepped down in…

AT&T said Monday it completed the sale of its wireless and wireline operations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to Liberty Latin America, taking in $1.95 billion. The news came several weeks after the WarnerMedia parent got a  $1.1 billion cash injection as it officially unloaded its stake in Central European…

UPDATED with CEO comments. AT&T said 8.6 million customers activated their access to streaming service HBO Max in the third quarter, more than double the 4.1 million reported in the previous quarter. The company edged Wall Street analysts’ estimates overall in the quarter, with total revenue of $42.3 billion and…

John Stankey, CEO of WarnerMedia parent AT&T, said productions – with about 130 underway since last week – are up and running but "the question is, what does exhibition look like?" “That’s still one of the things we don't have great visibility on," Stankey said on an investor conference call after the telco, cable and…

AT&T CEO John Stankey continues to express no misgivings over the launch of HBO Max in May, citing the unforeseeable impact of COVID-19 as its only real blemish. During a keynote session today kicking off the Wall Street Journal‘s Tech Live conference, Stankey pronounced himself “very happy” with the debut of the strea…

WarnerMedia is looking to implement a fresh round of layoffs as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on the entertainment business. The company confirmed to Deadline in a statement that it has “not been immune” to the pandemic and is looking at further cuts. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report about the…

AT&T has pledged to be carbon neutral across its global operations by 2035, with film and TV production at WarnerMedia one of the key areas of emphasis. Several other companies have made public vows to shrink their carbon footprints. Amazon introduced a Climate Pledge in 2019 to put companies on a path to carbon…

The FCC Monday granted AMC Networks’ motion to withdraw a complaint filed last month against AT&T that accused the media giant of abusing its market clout and favoring its own networks after merging with Time Warner. The complaint was withdraw after the two sides reached a new carriage agreement, according to an…