CNN (“Time Warner unveils its new name: WarnerMedia“):
One day after completing its acquisition of Time Warner, AT&T announced a new name for the media company: WarnerMedia.
John Stankey, the new CEO of the company, announced the rebranding and a series of structural changes in an internal memo on Friday afternoon.
[…]
In Friday’s memo, Stankey explained the rationale behind the new name.
“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,” he wrote. “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.”
Stankey pointed out that the old name created confusion because many people “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,” he added. “So, it is easier and more economical to change the name, than invest in advertising to resolve the confusion.”
[…]
Stankey’s memo on Friday acknowledged that there are impending layoffs in corporate departments of the former Time Warner.
He said the three main divisions “will see little change,” but “many of the redundant corporate support functions between our companies at the HQ/holding company level will be eliminated in the coming months.”
I was only vaguely aware that there was a “Time Warner Cable,” so that association never existed for me. I’m old enough that the Time magazine brand still means something but, for anyone under 40, it’s not valuable.
I’ll be more interested to see how the new WarnerMedia interacts with AT&T, which also bought DirecTV three years ago. The synergy between AT&T’s mobile network, the satellite TV provider, and the WarnerMedia properties should be substantial.
