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And just like that, the Jason Kilar era at WarnerMedia is over.
While Kilars tenure at the top was relatively brief, it was most certainly not uneventful.
Lets talk about the competition among streaming services.
As the cable bundle goes away, will consumers just shift all that money to streaming subscriptions?
Or maybe even be willing to pay more?
It differs by geography.
Thats a pretty common experience that we see.
Does that look that way 10 years from now, when more sports are available in streaming services?
Anybody who says declaratively to you, This is the way its going to be?
So far, thats been a very good strategy.
I suspect thatll change over time, but I just dont know how or with what velocity.
My hunch is theres probably going to be three must-have general entertainment streaming services.
And on this, Im referring to the storytelling-centric companies.
Or that maybe what will soon be Warner Bros.
Discovery is going to get even bigger?
Any of those are certainly possible.
What you dont know is who acquires who, and then whos the acquirer and whos the acquiree.
But I do think youre going to see changes.
I think some of those companies could become production entities, like Sony Pictures Entertainment is.
Sony used to be a streamer.
Is it possible that Paramount Global could do the same?
You could also see some sort of inorganic combination of other players.
But I dont think the current chess board is sustainable long term.
I think theres going to be changes to the chess board.
So its certainly not necessary to go and acquire other things.
I want to get your take on another big picture issue for the industry.
I think the largest economic engine of the industry is going to be paid subscription.
Under paid subscription, there are two flavors: ad-free and ad-supported.
But I am very bullish on FAST channels as well.
We have a healthy future in it.
And I want to be very clear about that, because weve done a lot of work on it.
And I think the FAST channels products are going to serve those folks.
So in aggregate, how much revenue will that kind of comprise?
FAST and AVOD can create new windows for content, too, right?
And the way you think about the world is the way I think about the world.
Im a real big believer in it.
My son always wants to go and just watch theTom and Jerryepisodes back to back.
Thats a FAST channel!
So theres real value in that.
Should Netflix copy what youve done with HBO Max and offer an ad-supported option?
And Im also a shareholder of this company.
So Im not going to give strategic counsel to Netflix because of those things.
Whats your take on the backlash and where things stand now?
It was the right decision, because we were in the middle of the pandemic.
And we were the only studio doing that, by the way.
In terms of your question about exhibitors, I dont know.
There are some industries that change every week.
I wouldnt say that exhibition is necessarily that.
Now, there are exceptions.
Do you think the exhibition space is ripe for more such disruption?
I dont know if its disruption, but I think about the word innovation a lot.
The folksy way I describe it is, the relentless pursuit of better ways.
What percentage was big format screens?
And those folks that dont embrace that mantra tend to underperform over long periods of time.
I have very strong opinions on this.
Let me give you a picture of what WarnerMedia looked like before I joined in early 2020.
Technology reported into the finance organization, and HBO Max was three levels below me.
At WarnerMedia, weve fundamentally addressed that, and we tried to do it as quickly as humanly possible.
Theres just no consistency in terms of what metrics are used or made public.
So my answer is a split one.
I firmly believe in that.
The reason why youre not seeing it today is because the playing field is unlevel.
Their biggest hits will be, in absolute numbers, less than say a middling show at Netflix.
