After months of legal proceedings, AT&T was able to merge with Time Warner in a $85 billion power play. As part of the merger, AT&T will move to take control of Time Warner’s major asset, HBO. Going forward, John Stankey will lead HBO and all of Warner Media as its CEO. At a recent town hall in New York, Stankey addressed changes in HBO‘s direction going forward. Stankey said, “It’s going to be a tough year.” He also added, “It’s going to be a lot of work to alter and change direction a little bit.”
Part of the premium cable channel’s change in focus could be a shift into producing more content. While HBO has maintained decades of success as a content hub that focuses primarily on putting out quality content, Stankey hinted that he may want the company to focus more on competing with the likes of Hulu and Netflix. Specifically, Stankey wants increase subscribers, put out more content and increase the number of hours subscribers spend on platforms like HBO Now and HBO Go. This is an interesting switch in focus considering that HBO’s currently formula has already attracted 143 million subscribers worldwide, but Stankey insists that HBO must “move beyond 35 to 40 percent penetration to have this become a much more common product.”
Stankey brought home his sentiments with an interesting metaphor. He says, “You will work very hard, and this next year will — my wife hates it when I say this — feel like childbirth… You’ll look back on it and be very fond of it, but it’s not going to feel great while you’re in the middle of it. She says, ‘What do you know about this?’ I just observe, ‘Honey. We love our kids.’” It’s unclear what these changes will mean for HBO going forward, but we’ll see where this goes.
