Time Warner Rebranded as WarnerMedia

AT&T has renamed Time Warner as WarnerMedia after closing its acquisition of the media company.

WarnerMedia houses HBO, Turner and Warner Bros. within the telco giant under the oversight of CEO John Stankey. Announcing the name change in a company memo, Stankey also revealed that John Martin is exiting his role as the CEO of Turner. As such, David Levy, the president of Turner; Gerhard Zeiler, the president of Turner International; and Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN Worldwide, will report directly to Stankey. “This initial Turner org structure will allow me to work more closely with more Turner leaders and accelerate my personal learning of the business as we define our shared priorities across the company,” Stankey’s memo said.

On the retiring of the Time Warner brand, Stankey said, “The simple answer is that it creates confusion amongst our stakeholders who never learned to distinguish between Time Warner, the media company, and Time Warner, the former cable company. Our consumer research suggests this confusion isn’t going away any time soon. So, it is easier and more economical to change the name, than invest in advertising to resolve the confusion. Why WarnerMedia? The short answer is that it tested very well externally as a naming convention that holds the valuable HBO, Turner and Warner Bros. brands. In addition, we felt that maintaining an element of the proud, established and successful Time Warner is a testament and sign of respect for both its history and for you, as architects of that legacy. That legacy isn’t just the Warner Communications company, but all the media companies that made up the Time Warner family. The legacy of one company over the other did not win or lose in this change. What matters most is the vibrancy and health of the customer-facing brands, which are among the very best in the industry today. I’m confident that together we will take those brands to new heights as we combine the respective strengths of WarnerMedia and AT&T in the coming years. WarnerMedia also allows some initial freedom and separation from the AT&T brand as we form and navigate a new presence in the entertainment industry.”