WarnerMedia

"Time Warner" redirects here. For the former US cable television operator separated from Time Warner in 2009, see Time Warner Cable.
Warner Media, LLC
WarnerMedia
Formerly
  • Time Warner (1990–1992; 2003–2018)
  • Time Warner Entertainment
    (1992–2001)
  • AOL Time Warner
    (2001–2003)
Company typeSubsidiary
NYSE: TWX
Industry
Predecessors
FoundedJanuary 10, 1990; 34 years ago (1990-01-10)
Founders
(Warner Communications)
DefunctApril 8, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-04-08)
FateSpun-off from AT&T and merged with Discovery, Inc.
SuccessorWarner Bros. Discovery
Headquarters30 Hudson Yards,
New York City
,
US
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Brands
RevenueIncrease US$35.63 billion (2021)
Decrease US$7.24 billion (2021)
Number of employees
25,600 (2015) Edit this on Wikidata
ParentAT&T (2018–2022)
Divisions
  • WarnerMedia Studios & Networks
  • WarnerMedia News & Sports
  • WarnerMedia Sales & Distribution
  • WarnerMedia Direct
  • WarnerMedia International
Websitewarnermedia.com (archived)
Footnotes / references
[1][2][3][4][5]

Warner Media, LLC (doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City.

It was established as Time Warner in 1990, following a merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications. The company had film, television and cable operations. Its assets included WarnerMedia Studios & Networks (which consisted of the entertainment assets of Turner Broadcasting, HBO, and Cinemax as well as Warner Bros., which itself consisted of the film, animation, television studios, the company's home entertainment division and Studio Distribution Services, its joint venture with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, DC Comics, New Line Cinema, and, together with CBS Entertainment Group[6], a 50% interest in The CW); WarnerMedia News & Sports (consisted of the news and sports assets of Turner Broadcasting, including CNN, Turner Sports, and AT&T SportsNet); WarnerMedia Sales & Distribution (consisted of digital media company Otter Media); and WarnerMedia Direct (consisted of the HBO Max streaming service).

Despite spinning off Time Inc. in 2014, the company retained the Time Warner name until 2018, when the company was renamed WarnerMedia after it was acquired by AT&T.[7] On October 22, 2016, AT&T officially announced that they intended on acquiring Time Warner for $85.4 billion (or $108.7 billion when including assumed Time Warner debt), valuing the company at $107.50 per share.[8][9] The proposed merger was confirmed on June 12, 2018,[10] after AT&T won an antitrust lawsuit that the U.S. Justice Department filed in 2017 to attempt to block the acquisition,[11] and was completed two days later, when the company became a subsidiary of AT&T.[12] The company's final name was adopted a day later.[13] Under AT&T, the company moved to launch a streaming service built around the company's content, known as HBO Max. WarnerMedia refolded Turner's entertainment-based networks under a singular umbrella unit on August 10, 2020, through a consolidation of the WarnerMedia Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment assets into a new unit, WarnerMedia Studios & Networks Group.[14][15] On May 17, 2021, nearly three years after the acquisition, AT&T decided to leave the entertainment business by announcing that it had proposed to sell its ownership of WarnerMedia in a merger with Discovery, Inc. to form a new publicly traded company, Warner Bros. Discovery. The deal closed on April 8, 2022.

The company's previous assets included Time Inc., TW Telecom, AOL, Time Warner Cable, AOL Time Warner Book Group, and Warner Music Group; these operations were either sold to others or spun off as independent companies. The company was ranked No. 98 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.[16]

  1. ^ "Financial and Operational Schedules & Non-GAAP Reconciliations" (PDF). AT&T. January 26, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  2. ^ Cohen, Roger (December 21, 1992). "The Creator of Time Warner, Steven J. Ross, Is Dead at 65". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  3. ^ "Time Warner Inc. Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2017 Results (10-K)". Time Warner. February 1, 2018. Archived from the original on December 2, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  4. ^ "AT&T Corporate Profile". about.att.com. Archived from the original on 2022-03-14. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  5. ^ "Business Units | WarnerMedia". warnermediagroup.com. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  6. ^ formerly CBS Corporation
  7. ^ Flint, Joe (March 11, 2014). "Time Inc. spinoff probably won't mean name change for Time Warner". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  8. ^ Hagey, Keach; Sharma, Amol; Cimilluca, Dana; Gryta, Thomas (October 22, 2016). "AT&T Is in Advanced Talks to Acquire Time Warner". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  9. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (October 22, 2016). "AT&T Sets $85.4 Billion Time Warner Deal, CEOs Talks 'Unique' Potential of Combination". Variety. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  10. ^ Gold, Hadas. "Judge approves $85 billion AT&T-Time Warner deal". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  11. ^ Kang, Cecilia; Merced, Michael (November 20, 2017). "Justice Department Sues to Block AT&T-Time Warner Merger". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  12. ^ "AT&T Completes Acquisition of Time Warner Inc". AT&T. June 15, 2018. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  13. ^ "Time Warner is changing its name to WarnerMedia; Turner CEO to depart". CNBC. June 15, 2018. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  14. ^ Hayes, Dade (August 10, 2020). "WarnerMedia Begins Layoffs In Latest Streamlining Effort". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  15. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (August 7, 2020). "Bob Greenblatt, Kevin Reilly Out Amid Major WarnerMedia Restructuring". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  16. ^ "Fortune 500 Companies 2018: Who Made the List". Fortune.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2018.