Layoffs went viral on Monday at WarnerMedia, with about 600 employees leaving the company, sources told Deadline.
The reduction of a workforce of about 25,000 follows major changes announced late Friday by WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar. Among the senior-level employees leaving the company are Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, chairman of Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution; Ron Sanders, chairman of worldwide theater distribution and home team; and CFO, Kim Williams, of Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Kilar made a shift to consumer-oriented operations away from wholesale, unveiled a new executive structure, and told Deadline that “difficult decisions” lie ahead regarding workforce. The new setup expands the work image of former Warner Bros. chief Ann Sarnoff, HBO programming boss Casey Bloys and WarnerMedia directly to consumer chief Andy Forssell. Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt and HBO Max / TNT / TBS supervisor Kevin Reilly have fired the company, along with communications and marketing ex Keith Cocozza, a 19-year veteran of the company.
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The May 27 launch of HBO Max is at the center of change. Parent company AT&T announced last month that it had attracted 4.1 million applications in its first two months and was on track to hit internal targets for growth over five years. Customer confusion over who gets eligible HBO Max, given the existence of multiple HBO brand offerings in the market, has clouded the launch. The service is also not available through Roku from Amazon Fire TV. Those two distributors reach more than 80 million American homes.
Production of original programming card for HBO Max was also provided by COVID-19. The company’s film and TV studio also suffered major setbacks during the pandemic, with movie theaters closing and months of live sports going on. TNT of WarnerMedia-owned recently saw a sparkle in the return of NBA basketball, but advertising across all networks remains well below 2019 levels.
The restructuring is the latest wave of change that came after WarnerMedia, which officially became part of AT&T in 2018. Former WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey, now CEO of AT&T, initiated major cost cuts and staff reductions while working to break down the walls between HBO, Warner Bros. and Turner. The exits of HBO and Turner bosses Richard Plepler and David Levy in early 2019 were accompanied by a widespread exodus of executive talent. Buyouts were offered to exporters with more than 10 years of service.
