The Hollywood Reporter - 30.10.2019

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THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 11 OCTOBER 30, 2019

HASTINGS: CARLOS R. ALVAREZ/WIREIMAGE. WEST: TAYLOR HILL/WIREIMAGE. BENIOFF: JEFF KRAVITZ/FILMMAGIC FOR HBO. EK: DAVE J HOGAN/G

ETTY

IMAGES FOR SPOTIFY. SWIFT: KEVIN MAZUR/WIREIMAGE. STANKY: RODIN ECKENROTH/GETTY IMAGES. STEPHENSON: AMIR LEVY/GETTY IMAGES.

Illustration by Leonardo Santamaria

↑ Finance

Debt Debate

When will Reed Hastings

stop burning cash? p. 14

Digital

Giveaway Bonanza

Disney and the new

streaming freebies p. 16

$9.92 (+8%)

AMC ENT. (AMC)

Wedbush reiterates its “out-

perform” rating as the theater

chain expands abroad while

its subscription program

drives U.S. attendance higher.

$96.64 (-20%)

HASBRO (HAS)

The toymaker says Chinese

tariffs led to additional costs

for certain products, such as

those based on Disney’s Star

Wars and Frozen franchises.

AT&T president and COO to his

title, has Stephenson’s full confi-

dence. Stankey’s tenure so far has

included overhauling a vast array

of media assets including Warner

Bros. and HBO during a turbulent

stretch of weeks earlier this year

in which nearly every top executive

was ousted or exited,

including Warners’

Kevin Tsujihara

and HBO’s Richard

Plepler. In March,

he installed Bob

Greenblatt as chair-

man, WarnerMedia

Entertainment and

direct-to-consumer,

overseeing HBO and

Turner programming, and in

June hired former BBC executive

Ann Sarnoff as Warner Bros.’ first

female studio CEO.

Stephenson also has publicly

given Stankey the full weight of

his support. In a note to employees

Oct. 28, Stephenson called Stankey

“talented” and added, “The Board

and I have high expectations for

John. I’m excited for him and look

forward to seeing him tackle his

new responsibilities. Together, we

are all about execution and deliv-

ering on our three-year plan.”

But sources familiar with

Elliott’s strategy say the $38 bil-

lion activist hedge fund, founded

by Paul Singer, wanted Stankey

out as head of WarnerMedia and

did not have faith in his decision-

making on content matters.

“DirecTV has been a loser from

day one,” says one source of

AT&T’s $48.5 billion acquisition

in 2015, just before subscribers

cratered. “That’s on Stankey.”

Elliott partner Jesse Cohn,

the brash 39-year-old who

spearheaded the hedge fund’s

move to buy $3.4 billion in AT&T

common stock sometime dur-

ing the past year (one source

puts the date at around mid-

February), made no secret that

he was gunning for Stankey.

That put AT&T on edge given that

Cohn successfully ousted CEOs

O

n Oct. 29, WarnerMedia

CEO John Stankey was

front and center as the

company laid out its content

strategy, including splashy new

series from Greg Berlanti, Ridley

Scott, Elizabeth Banks, Issa Rae,

Mindy Kaling and more for HBO

Max, the Netflix rival launching

in May 2020.

With parent AT&T at least

signaling that it’s in sync

with activist investor Elliott

Management following tensions

between the conglomerate and

the hedge fund, Stankey would

As he unveils HBO Max, Randall Stephenson fends off

Elliott’s demands for a shake-up and agrees to give

WarnerMedia chief John Stankey ‘a yearlong job interview’ ’

BY TATIANA SIEGEL

appear to be safe from further cri-

tiques about mismanagement of

media assets including DirecTV,

which sparked the most condem-

nation from Elliott. In fact, both

sides seemed to agree that AT&T’s

portfolio should be fully reviewed

and no new acquisitions will take

place. So, is Stankey out of the

woods (for now) and still the heir

apparent to take the CEO reins

when Randall Stephenson, 59,

steps down sometime after 2020?

It depends on whom you ask.

AT&T-WarnerMedia sources say

Stankey, 56, who recently added

Kanye West

The rapper’s 38-minute

Jesus Is King Imax film takes

in $830,00 from 372 theaters,

as the album version aims

for a No. 1 Billboard 200 chart

debut despite unkind reviews.

Daniel Ek

The Spotify CEO grows the

audio platform’s user base to

113 million paid subscribers,

beating estimates and its own

forecast for growth.

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

The Game of Thrones creators,

tapped to make the next

Star Wars trilogy, part ways

with Lucasfilm to focus on

developing projects for Netflix.

Taylor Swift

An appeals court revives a

copyright case against the pop

star over the lyrics to her

megahit song “Shake It Off.”

AT&T’s Shadow War

Resets as Activist

Investors Claim Wins

Oct. 21-

Stankey

Stephenson