WarnerMedia, formerly Time Warner Inc. (1990-2001; 2009-18) and AOL Time Warner (2001-09), one of the world’s largest media and entertainment conglomerates. It was founded as Time Warner after the merger of Warner Communications and Time Inc. in 1990, and after it became a subsidiary of AT&T in 2018, it was renamed WarnerMedia. It consists of three main divisions: Home Box Office Inc. (HBO), Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. Its products primarily include motion pictures and broadcast and cable TV programming and distribution. Several former divisions in magazines, hardcover books, comic books, recorded music and online services, including AOL, Time Warner Cable and Warner Books, were merged in the early 21st century. WarnerMedia’s headquarters are in New York City
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The first motion picture company was founded in Los Angeles in 1923 as Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. by Polish immigrant brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner, who had started with a nickelodeon in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, in 1903. In 1927, Warner Brothers introduced music and dialogue with the first “talkie” film, Jazz Singer. The company was one of the leading Hollywood studios in the 1930s and 40s with a number of actors, including Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn and Edward G. Robinson.
During the 1950s Warner Brothers, like other film producers, faced growing competition from television. In 1956, it was forced to sell its pre-1950 film assets to associated artists. (Ironically, the rights to the material were eventually returned to the company after they were sold in 1986 to Turner Broadcasting System, which in turn merged with Time Warner Inc.in 1996). Television also provided new opportunities for Warner Brothers, where the hit series Maverick (1957) and 77 Sunset Strip (1958) were filmed. In 1967, Jack Warner sold his remaining interest in the company to Seven Arts Productions. Two years later Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Inc. was purchased by Kinney National Services, Inc. and became part of the newly named Warner Communications Inc. (WCI).
Kinney began its business as a funeral home in New Jersey and diversified into parking lots and construction companies in the New York City area. Steve Ross, who started Kinney after marrying the owner’s daughter, was co-chief executive officer (CEO) from 1969 to 1972, when he became WCI’s sole CEO, president and chairman. Ross began an aggressive acquisition strategy, bringing in electronic game manufacturer Atari, children’s toy maker Knickerbocker Toy, family recreation company Malibu Grand Prix, the New York Cosmos football (soccer) team and heirloom manufacturer Franklin Mint.
In the early 1980s, WCI encountered financial reversals that resulted in a $500 million loss in 1983. By 1985, the company had divested all of the above businesses, and Ross focused WCI on its cable television businesses, which had remained profitable. Warner Cable had begun in 1972, and by 1979 WCI had struck a joint deal with American Express Company to form Warner-Amex Cable. The new company is best known for its attempt to create a two-way cable system called QUBE in Columbus, Ohio. By 1984, QUBE had failed,but the cable television business was thriving, and WCI bought its Warner-Amex partner in 1985 for $400 million. The next year, Ross became the highest-paid American executive with a 10-year, $14 million contract. In 1987, Ross began talks with Time Inc. president Nicholas Nicholas about merging the two companies.
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In 2016, it was announced that AT&T acquired Time Warner for about $85 billion. However, the deal required federal review, and in 2017 the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued to block the sale, citing antitrust issues. The following year, a judge approved the merger, and the deal closed shortly thereafter, although the DOJ appealed the decision. Time Warner was later renamed WarnerMedia.
