{"id":20353,"date":"2014-10-29T11:09:50","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T15:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/?p=20353"},"modified":"2014-12-01T15:59:43","modified_gmt":"2014-12-01T20:59:43","slug":"time-warner-tvcable-channels-only","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/2014\/10\/29\/time-warner-tvcable-channels-only\/","title":{"rendered":"Time Warner (TV\/cable channels only)"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Cameron MacPherson<\/pre>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n
\"Time<\/a>
[1<\/a>] Time Warner Logo<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0Time Warner Inc.
\nOne Time Warner Center
\nNew York, NY 10019-8016
\n212-484-8000
\nwww.timewarner.com<\/a><\/p>\n
About<\/h1>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Time Warner, Inc<\/a>. is an American media company\u00a0with\u00a0properties in the television and film industries, including cable properties under the Turner Broadcasting System<\/a>, its premium cable property Home Box Office (HBO)<\/a>, and its production unit Warner Brothers Studios<\/a>. [2<\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n
\"Time<\/a>
[3<\/a>] Time Warner has three major divisions: HBO, Turner, and Warner Brothers<\/p><\/div>\n
Executives<\/h1>\n
\"jbewkes_0\"<\/a>
[4<\/a>] Jeff Bewkes, Chairman and CEO<\/p><\/div>
\"gginsberg\"<\/a>
[6<\/a>] Gary L. Ginsberg, Executive VP, Corporate Marketing and Communications<\/p><\/div>
\"Howard<\/a>
[5<\/a>] Howard M. Averill, Executive Vice President and CFO<\/p><\/div> <\/p>\n
Financials and Strategies<\/h1>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Time Warner Inc., a publicly traded company, posted a $29.8 billion revenue for 2013, a 4% increase from 2012. [7<\/a>]\u00a0<\/span>On July 16, 2014, news broke\u00a0that Time Warner had rejected an $80 billion buyout offer from 21<\/a><\/span>st<\/sup><\/span><\/a> Century Fox<\/a>. The proposal offered $85 a share for a stock that, just before the announced rejection, sat just above $70 a share. [8<\/a>]\u00a0CEO Jeff Bewkes<\/a> has made a commitment to reach the $85 per share target to encourage stockholders that the company has growth potential. Under Bewkes, the financial strategy of the company has been to minimize expenses to maximize profits. Time Warner Inc. has recently spun off Time Warner Cable<\/a> and Time Inc.<\/a>\u00a0properties, retaining only its Turner cable properties, HBO, and the Warner Brothers Studios. [9<\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n
\"Time<\/a>
[12 <\/a>] Time Warner rejected an $80 billion buyout bid from 21st Century Fox<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Even with a smaller\u00a0portfolio of properties, the emphasis on streamlined efficiency still dominates Time Warner\u2019s financial strategy. In recent months, there have been layoffs in all three of Time Warner\u2019s divisions. Turner Broadcasting offered a buyout option to 6% of its staffers in August, two months before announcing that the company would cut 1,475 jobs.[10<\/a>][11<\/a>] Time Warner cut seven percent, or 150, of its domestic\u00a0employees for HBO in late\u00a0<\/span>October, one week before cutting 1,000\u00a0jobs at Warner Brothers Studios. [13<\/a>][14<\/a>]<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The strategy, to this point, has been successful. The newly enacted efficiencies and bold strategies for expansion of Time Warner\u2019s HBO property have led to a surge in market valuation. On\u00a0November 30, the price of Time Warner\u2019s stock reached $85.12 per share, 12 cents above the buyout offer from 21<\/span>st<\/sup><\/span> Century Fox in July (before falling slightly below the line the next day). [15<\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n
\"[13]<\/a>
[16 <\/a>] A graph showing the price of Time Warner’s stock prices over the last three months (TWX)<\/p><\/div>\n
HBO Developments<\/h1>\n
\"HBO,<\/a>
[17\u00a0<\/a>] HBO, a division of Time Warner<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0According to Time Warner, a major reason for rejecting the buyout offer was the growth potential of HBO<\/a>. On September 16, ten days after 21<\/span>st<\/sup><\/span> Century Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch withdrew his buyout offer, Time Warner announced plans for a fourth quarter marketing push for HBO across broadcast, cable, and digital platforms. [18<\/a>] \u00a0A week later, HBO partnered with AT&T to offer customers broadband service, HBO GO, and Amazon\u2019s Prime membership for a limited time offer. [19<\/a>] The move, similar to Comcast\u2019s \u201cInternet Plus\u201d package<\/a>, signaled another step towards unbundling HBO from pricey cable subscriptions. Just a month after that, Time Warner made a major announcement <\/a>that expanded on this departure from cable bundles. Time Warner stated that it planned to offer a standalone streaming platform\u00a0through its online HBO GO service starting in 2015. The service will be available without a cable subscription to HBO, using broadband as its distribution channel. [20<\/a>] While the details about available programming and distribution channels are yet to be released, many analysts predict the over-the-top service will be marketed towards cord-cutters and millenials rather than those with existing HBO subscriptions. [21<\/a>]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With the new online streaming service, Time Warner hopes to attract customers to HBO who might otherwise be deterred\u00a0by cable\u2019s lofty price tag. Additionally, it has positioned itself as a viable competitor to Netflix<\/a> in the digital arena. HBO has fewer domestic subscribers than Netflix, but far more international subscribers; HBO boasts 130 million global subscribers to Netflix\u2019s 50 million. [22<\/a>] In recent months, Time Warner has sought to expand this\u00a0international presence. HBO struck a deal with Chinese content distributor Tencent Holdings Ltd<\/a>., granting the Chinese media giant the exclusive rights to distribute HBO\u2019s original programming. Tencent Video, the company\u2019s online streaming site, will air episodes of HBO shows that have become wildly popular in China through piracy sites. [23<\/a>] Executives at HBO hope that this move will cut down on piracy, and create a loyal fan base in the world\u2019s most populous country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Programming<\/span><\/h1>\n
HBO \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"Boardwalk<\/a>
[24<\/a>] In 2014, HBO aired the final season of its hit crime show, “Boardwalk Empire”<\/p><\/div>\n
 HBO is known for its award winning original programming and loyal fan bases, particularly with hits like \u201cGame of Thrones<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cTrue Detective<\/a>.\u201d One such program, the smash crime hit \u201cBoardwalk Empire<\/a>,\u201d finished its television run after five seasons. The series, which has won 18 Emmys<\/a>, had a strong showing with 2.3 million\u00a0<\/span>viewers tuning in live for the series finale. When coupled with a same-night rerun and HBO GO statistics, total same-day viewers exceeded 6.6 million. [25<\/a>]<\/p>\n
\"HBO<\/a>
[27 <\/a>] HBO launched the final season of its news drama “The Newsroom”<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 HBO launched three new shows in its Sunday lineup, including the third and final season of Aaron Sorkin\u2019s \u201cThe Newsroom.\u201d The premiere of the truncated season reached a disappointing 1.2 million viewers live, a 40% decrease from the season two premiere. This year, the series does not benefit from the strong lead-ins of \u201cTrue Blood\u201d and \u201cBoardwalk Empire,\u201d leading\u00a0to decreases in live ratings. [26<\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 It should be noted that live viewership is not as important for HBO due to its lack of advertising. Only about 25 to 30 percent of viewers watch programs live on HBO, as many viewers use the on-demand services or the web-based HBO GO. [28<\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0Turner<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"Turner<\/a>
[31 <\/a>] Turner CEO John Martin<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Turner Broadcasting and its CEO John Martin<\/a> have expressed a commitment to take more \u201ccreative risks,\u201d and announced that the company would double its funding for original programming by the end of 2018. [29<\/a>] Turner\u2019s TBS and TNT channels have greatly benefited from airing live sporting events. Alongside\u00a0Disney<\/a>, Time Warner renewed its rights to air live NBA games through the 2024-2025 season. TNT is granted the rights to broadcast 64 games a year. [30<\/a>]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The 2014 American League Championship Series on TBS was the most viewed MLB playoffs on the network since 2010. The 2014 ALCS averaged 4.3 million viewers, despite featuring teams from mid-sized markets. [32<\/a>] Because sporting events can draw large numbers of live viewers, Turner is able to charge higher prices for advertising and licensing fees. Thus, investing in live sporting rights will continue to be a major component of Turner\u2019s business strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The mass viewership of sporting events gives Turner additional leverage in negotiations with television distributors. When contract negotiations were stalling between Dish Network<\/a> and Time Warner in October, Dish Network suddenly blacked out many of Turner\u2019s cable channels, including CNN, TruTV, and Cartoon Network. Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen stated that while blacking out these channels was a \u201cnon-issue,\u201d it would be \u201cmore painful\u201d to take down the popular Turner channels Dish had left running: TBS and TNT, which both carry\u00a0major sporting events. [33<\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n
Future<\/h1>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The future of Time Warner will be heavily scrutinized by corporate\u00a0analysts. The question remains: can Time Warner create sustained growth, or was it foolish to pass<\/span><\/p>\n
\"[34]<\/a>
[34<\/a>] The Time Warner Center, headquarters of Time Warner, Inc.<\/p><\/div>\n
on the 21<\/span>st<\/sup><\/span> Century Fox buyout offer? Time Warner has made decisions to bring its stock <\/span>prices up in both the short-term, through\u00a0corporate restructuring and job layoffs, and the long-term, through strategic\u00a0HBO expansions and property spinoffs. Only sustained growth, most likely fostered by HBO’s continued expansion and Turner’s programming decisions, will determine the success of Time Warner.<\/p>\n
\n
[1] Time Warner Inc. logo.<\/a>\u00a0Timewarner.com,<\/i>\u00a0retrieved 1 December 2014<\/p>\n
[2] Time Warner Inc.<\/a>\u00a0Timewarner.com,\u00a0<\/em>retrieved 1 December 2014<\/p>\n
[3] Time Warner Operating Divisions<\/a>.\u00a0Timewarner.com<\/em>, retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[4] Jeff Bewkes bio page<\/a>. Timewarner.com<\/em>, retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[5] Howard Averill bio page<\/a>.\u00a0Timewarner.com,<\/em> retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[6] Gary Ginsberg bio page<\/a>. Timewarner.com<\/em>, retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[7] Time Warner’s quarterly reports<\/a>. Ir.timewarner.com,<\/em> retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[8] “Time Warner rejected $80B offer from 21st Century Fox: Sources”.<\/a>\u00a0CNBC<\/em>, 16 July 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[9] “Time Warner Profit Tops Estimates as CEO Pursues Growth”<\/a>.\u00a0Bloomberg.com<\/em>, 5 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[10] “Turner Broadcasting offers voluntary buyouts”<\/a>. CNN Money, <\/em>26 August 2014.\u00a0<\/em>Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[11] “Turner Broadcasting, Home of CNN, TBS and TNT, Will Cut 1,475 jobs”<\/a>. The New York Times<\/em>, 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[12] “Time Warner’s HBO to cut 7 percent of staff”<\/a>. Reuters<\/em>, 28 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[13] “Warner Bros. Layoffs Beginning Tuesday to Eliminate Roughly 1,000 Jobs”<\/a>. The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>, 3 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[14] Twenty First Century Fox logo<\/a>.\u00a0Logopedia<\/em>, retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[15] Time Warner (TWX) stock<\/a>.\u00a0MarketWatch,\u00a0<\/em>retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[16] Graph of TWX stock<\/a>.\u00a0Google Finance,<\/em>\u00a0retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[17] HBO logo<\/a>.\u00a0Homeboxoffice.com<\/em>, retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[18] “Time Warner Plans HBO Marketing Push to Speed Growth”<\/a>. Bloomberg.com<\/em>, 18 September 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[19]\u00a0“AT&T Lures Cord Cutters With $39-a-Month Deal for Broadband, Amazon Prime and HBO”<\/a>. The Wall Street Journal, 23 September 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[20] “HBO Plans New Streaming Service, With Eye on Cord Cutters”<\/a>.\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>, 15 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[21] “Before HBO Starts Streaming, Time Warner Wants to Make Big Cable Happy”<\/a>. Businessweek<\/em>, 5 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[22] “The battle between Netflix and HBO is just beginning. And this man holds the key”<\/a>.\u00a0The Washington Post<\/em>, 28 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[23] “Tencent to Distribute HBO Dramas, Movies Online in China”<\/a>.\u00a0Nadsaq<\/em>, 28 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[24] Boardwalk Empire poster<\/a>.\u00a0IMDB<\/em>, retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[25] “\u2018Boardwalk Empire\u2019 Ratings: Series Ends With 2.3M Watching HBO\u00a0Finale”<\/a>.\u00a0Deadline<\/em>, 27 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[26] “HBO Has a Quiet Sunday With ‘Newsroom’ and ‘Comeback’ Returns”<\/a>.\u00a0The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>, 11 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[27] Businessweek<\/em>, ibid.<\/a><\/p>\n
[28] The Newsroom poster<\/a>.\u00a0IMDB,\u00a0<\/em>retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[29] “Turner Broadcasting CEO Pledges to Double Original Programming Investment”<\/a>.\u00a0The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>, 12 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[30] “Walt Disney, Time Warner Said to Renew NBA TV Contracts”<\/a>.\u00a0Bloomberg.com<\/em>, 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[31] John Martin bio page<\/a>. Turner.com<\/em>, retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[32] “TBS Finishes Its Most-Viewed MLB Postseason Since 2010”<\/a>. Multichannel.com<\/em>, 16 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[33] “Turner Warns Dish Users That TNT & TBS Might Follow CNN, Toons Going\u00a0Dark”<\/a>.\u00a0Deadline<\/em>, 18 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n
[34] Associated Press file image of the Time Warner Center<\/a>.\u00a0Syracuse.com<\/em>, 08 August 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Cameron MacPherson \u00a0 \u00a0Time Warner Inc. One Time Warner Center New York, NY 10019-8016 212-484-8000 www.timewarner.com About \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Time Warner, Inc. is an American media company\u00a0with\u00a0properties in the television and film industries, including cable properties … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":376,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":[],"categories":[3062,3063],"tags":[1874,4124,3047,1514,2915,1504,4125,4126,520,1402,1511,877,723,1654,1512,4123,4122,1507],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20353"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20598,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20353\/revisions\/20598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}