AT&T has announced a deal (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/23/business/dealbook/att-agrees-to-buy-time-warner-for-more-than-80-billion.html) to acquire Time Warner for $86 billion.
Let's hope this doesn't become a disaster like what happened with AOL all those years ago.
2022 Update: AT&T sold WB to Discovery.
Well, if it at least results in Jeff Bewkes no longer running them then that's at least one positive. Though I'm not certain if even that's happening.
Him giving up Time Warner would at least lead to some good.
The Toonami Faithful Podcast had an interview with CNN's Jose Argumedo explaining what would happen if the merger goes through. (Fast-forward to 58:53.)
https://soundcloud.com/toonamifaithfulpodcast/228-dragon-ball-z-the-new-52-or-we-finally-interviewed-jose
TW's shareholders have approved the merger. (http://www.timewarner.com/newsroom/press-releases/2017/02/15/time-warner-shareholders-approve-merger-with-att)
The FCC chairman will not review the merger. (http://www.ibtimes.com/att-time-warner-merger-fcc-chairman-doesnt-expect-review-deal-2498398) Only the DOJ will review it.
Quote from: Peanutbutter on October 22, 2016, 10:20:41 PMWell, if it at least results in Jeff Bewkes no longer running them then that's at least one positive. Though I'm not certain if even that's happening.
Him giving up Time Warner would at least lead to some good.
Looks like that's going to happen. (http://nypost.com/2017/08/03/att-plans-to-dump-time-warner-name-after-merger)
Quote from: Daikun on August 05, 2017, 08:38:32 PM
Quote from: Peanutbutter on October 22, 2016, 10:20:41 PMWell, if it at least results in Jeff Bewkes no longer running them then that's at least one positive. Though I'm not certain if even that's happening.
Him giving up Time Warner would at least lead to some good.
Looks like that's going to happen. (http://nypost.com/2017/08/03/att-plans-to-dump-time-warner-name-after-merger)
Goody!
There's a chance whomever the new boss is could be as stupid and shortsighted as he was, but I'm going to stay cautiously optimistic unless they start screwing up badly. Wonder how this affects channels like TNT and CNN?
Quote from: Peanutbutter on August 06, 2017, 01:09:53 PMWonder how this affects channels like TNT and CNN?
No word on TNT, but they might sell CNN. (http://deadline.com/2017/08/time-warner-merger-cnn-tmz-selloff-targets-att-1202140037)
Also TMZ, but I don't see a problem. :awesome:
Quote from: Daikun on August 06, 2017, 03:09:15 PM
Quote from: Peanutbutter on August 06, 2017, 01:09:53 PMWonder how this affects channels like TNT and CNN?
No word on TNT, but they might sell CNN. (http://deadline.com/2017/08/time-warner-merger-cnn-tmz-selloff-targets-att-1202140037)
Also TMZ, but I don't see a problem. :awesome:
I am 100% fine with this development.
The purchase has been approved. (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/12/att-time-warner-ruling.html)
EDIT: Also, they won't be selling CNN, TMZ, or anything. They keep the whole company.
Then it's actually a buyout not a merger, right?
You're right.
Fixed.
Turner will remain unchanged. (http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/14/media/att-time-warner-deal)
QuoteTurner will be managed as a "separate business unit," and AT&T will have no role in setting Turner's prices with distributors, the letter said. The number of Turner employees, pay levels and benefits "will remain largely unchanged," it said.
No word yet on Time Warner's other divisions.
If that means Cartoon Network won't suffer from any changes like what happened when they merged with AOL a decade ago, then fine with me.
UPDATE: Turner will remain unchanged until February 2019. (http://fortune.com/2018/06/14/att-closes-time-warner-deal)
Time Warner is now WarnerMedia. (https://www.cbr.com/time-warner-renamed-warnermedia)
John Martin and Jeff Bewkes are leaving (https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/att-time-warner-warnermedia-turner-chief-john-martin-1202848405) following the transitional period.
Bewkes was a moron, so that's one piece of good news from this at least. If the next person at least understands that cooperation between branches of a media company are NOT a bad thing, that will automatically put them in a much better chance at succeeding than him.
AT&T has acquired the remaining shares of Otter Media and will merge it into WarnerMedia. Now Crunchyroll, Fullscreen, VRV, and more will be part of the WarnerMedia family.
https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/att-now-owns-crunchyroll-fullscreen-more
R.I.P. Turner Broadcasting (https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/warnermedia-shakeup-bob-greenblatt-hbo-turner-cnn-1203154109)
Warner Bros.' CEO steps down amid sexual misconduct. (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/warner-bros-kevin-tsujihara-exit-as-studio-chief-1054951)
Well, he didn't own CN for long...
AT&T might spin off WarnerMedia and sell it to Discovery Communications. (https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/16/media/att-discovery-warnermedia)
I guess this means HBO Max is a major bust. Absolutely insane.
Companies just love playing hot potato with WB.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on May 22, 2021, 11:28:05 PM
Companies just love playing hot potato with WB.
Why do companies like treating WB like a hot potato anyway? I know they have properties that people recognize, but what else do people see in them?
Quote from: Daxdiv on May 23, 2021, 07:45:00 PM
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on May 22, 2021, 11:28:05 PM
Companies just love playing hot potato with WB.
Why do companies like treating WB like a hot potato anyway? I know they have properties that people recognize, but what else do people see in them?
The chance to be another Disney. What AT&T and these other companies don't seem to understand is Disney spent decades making their brands cohesive with each other. Think of all the crossovers like Kingdom Hearts, House of Mouse, and their Disney Princess shit. While turning all of WB's franchises into one brand's a rarer approach for them, and one they've been struggling to achieve.
AT&T is simply one of the most mismanaged conglomerates on the planet that time and time again gets too big for its britches and buys things without knowing what in the Sam Hill they are going to do with it. WB is just a casualty in this, it's nothing wrong with WB themselves that studio is still very valuable. Nor is it really an issue with HBO Max, it has the library to support itself, though the cost is arguably too high sure. AT&T is just that bad of a company.
See also Directv, which was a powerhouse in providing pay television prior to AT&T buying them and doing absolutely zero with them despite knowing that cutting the cable cord is and was an increasing movement over the last decade. They were trying to sell of Directv for a fraction of the price they paid for them in 2015 late last year/early this year, don't remember the numbers but it was embarrassing. AT&T is just a grossly incompetent company run by morons that have absolutely no idea what they are doing or any insight to the way things will be in the future. You can't trust anything they buy or acquire to be successful. It's a shame really.
AT&T is splitting off from WarnerMedia entirely. (https://variety.com/2022/biz/news/att-spin-off-warnermedia-43-billion-deal-1235168480)
Well, so much for that.
So they bought one of Hollywood's most significant studios, didn't profit from it how they wanted, and leave it behind by cutting numerous jobs and adding little of value to either company.
What a wash of a merger.
It would be funny if it weren't for all the showrunners or directors who hastily had to end or change projects against their will just to suit a futile effort.
AT&T's still eating the financial losses created by Justice League and Wonder Woman 1984. Of course HBO Max wasn't going to help in the long run.
Should probably update the title to talk about Discovery.
But since the 30th, HBO Max has lost their post-1950 Looney Tunes shorts and the latter three seasons of The Flintstones, and will lose Justice League, JLU, and the Brave and the Bold at the end of the month. Oh, and the Aquaman cartoon from the 60's, too.
Quote from: Avaitor on January 04, 2023, 10:51:20 AMShould probably update the title to talk about Discovery.
Title changed.
Man, Warner Bros really is shooting themselves in the foot for their 100th anniversary. I'm glad that my cable provider gives people free HBO Max cause this would have been the "Yeah, I'm cancelling this shit" call.
I don't have HBO Max and have other ways to watch the entire LT library, but I don't really understand the 1950 cutoff, how many 30s and 40s cartoons are still on it? Wouldn't it be easier to remove them all, you are already proving you don't care about animated content.
Given every cartoon from 1951 on just got dropped, that leaves at most like six Foghorn Leghorns, six Sylvester and Tweetys, seven Yosemite Sam and Bugs cartoons, five Pepes, one single Wile and Roadrunner cartoon, one Marvin, and no Speedy Gonzales, no Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog, no Taz, no Hunting Trilogy, no Duck Dodgers, no What's Opera, Doc?, no One Froggy Evening. A lot of heavy hitters missing all of the sudden, though I guess you can still watch tons of Clampett shorts I assume? It's like the old days with the aap package on the Turner channels.
also don't get "licensing" something from within the same corporation, or it suddenly being "too expensive", that just plum makes no sense. It just seems like the Kmart/Sears/Toys R Us model is now being employed to Warner Bros by some guy that doesn't care about anything besides money, bleed whatever you can and dump the husk, who cares about the legacy? Shame too after WB/HBO was making such an effort to restore as much as they possibly could the last few years.
I heard it's meant as an excuse to stop paying royalties to the cast and crew, and I assume at least a few of the 30s/40s cartoons are public domain or have clauses that don't require sending residuals to the animators' estates.
But what about The Flintstones? Why is season 3 the cut off for royalties? Was Bamm-Bamm a third party creation or something?
royalties for these cartoons have to be like pennies per each cartoon, hardly doubt the Jones estate is making bank off "What's Opera, Doc?" streams. They sell these cartoons for like 2 bucks a pop on digital platforms, most of which goes to WB's pockets. And most of the actual crew, like animators and ink and painters and such, hardly got paid to begin with when the cartoons were made, doubt 70+ years later WB is paying them anything significant.
Plus like, there's still another decade plus of cartoons still on the platform directed by Jones/Freleng/McKimson, among others, and voiced by Mel Blanc.
I don't know, either those pennies add up over time, or WB is really that desperate to cut corners. There's a ton of stuff going on with HBO Max that just makes no sense, so it's hard to theorize the logistics behind this. Were there different contracts for both halves of Flintstones that we don't know of?
Yeah, Zaslav sucks ass, but there has to be something going on that explains all this instead of assuming he pulled a ton of cartoons just because.