Former HBO and Time Warner employees "suggest that maximizing HBO on the internet has long enchanted and frustrated the scores of executives who’ve tried," says Felix Gillette of the AT&T shakeup that saw the departure of longtime HBO executive Richard Plepler. He adds: "From the outside, people think of HBO for its innovative programming—The Sopranos, Sex and the City, The Wire, and, of course, Game of Thrones. But people who’ve worked there describe a hidebound institution. Decisions are made slowly and by consensus; longtime employees guard the network’s lucrative, award-winning status quo. From the start, HBO’s internet team was met with occasional outbursts of resistance." ALSO: AT&T is basically saying "enough" with the Game of Thrones-style factions within Time Warner and HBO.
TOPICS: HBO, HBO Max, John Stankey, Richard Plepler, Robert Greenblatt, AT&T