AT&T wants to overhaul HBO, says it isn’t profitable enough

Enlarge / Dolores can't abide a drop in HBO's quality. (credit: HBO)

AT&T has been the proud owner of HBO for less than a month, and it is already considering an overhaul that would see HBO produce more video that can compete for the attention of smartphone users. AT&T wants to boost revenue both in advertising and subscriptions, even if that means upending HBO's longtime strategy of producing a relatively small number of high-quality shows.

John Stankey, an AT&T executive who is now CEO of the company's WarnerMedia division, formed after last month's acquisition of Time Warner Inc., described his vision in an hourlong "town hall meeting" with 150 employees. Audio of the meeting was obtained by The New York Times.

"It's going to be a tough year," Stankey said, according to the Times article. "It's going to be a lot of work to alter and change direction a little bit."

Read 13 remaining paragraphs | Comments