WarnerMedia Unveils A Smarter Way for Advertisers at First-Ever, All-In Upfront

New Company Spotlights its Creative Vision and Portfolio of Iconic Brands, Now Enhanced by AT&T's Global Reach, Capabilities, and 170 Million Direct-to-Consumer Relationships

May 15, 2019

Less than one year in as part of parent company AT&T, WarnerMedia took the stage at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City this morning to showcase the power and breadth of its expanded portfolio, with unrivaled data and insights. The 75-minute presentation focused on the company's investment in multi-platform premium content and how it has streamlined the business to enable advertisers to create deeper, more meaningful connections, enhanced by insights from AT&T's170 million direct-to-consumer relationships.

Marketers, agencies, members of the press and other industry influencers were introduced to what is now WarnerMedia and its premium ad-supported brands including Adult Swim, Bleacher Report, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN, Crunchyroll,Great Big Story, HLN, Rooster Teeth, TBS, TNT, truTV, Turner Sports and Warner Brothers Syndicate - demonstrating the diversity of storytelling from each brand, now under one roof. The combined portfolio reaches over 3 in 4 Americans every month across all platforms, and now boasts more than 1.2 billion followers across social media platforms.

We've combined the creative vision, iconic brands and full content portfolio of WarnerMedia with the global reach, capabilities and direct consumer relationships of our parent company AT&T. It means we've streamlined our business to ensure that all of our audiences and platforms are available to you - in one place, with one conversation, said John Stankey, CEO, WarnerMedia, who opened the presentation with a WarnerMedia video showcasing the breadth of the company's portfolio. He closed his remarks with some final thoughts, We all know video consumption is changing. Technology is changing. And our business models are changing. But the need to connect with passionate consumers at scale is not changing. He went on to say, We are absolutely committed to pushing the creative and commercial boundaries of the advertising experience, building better solutions for our partners, and working side by side with you - everyone here in the audience - to lead the evolution of our industry.

Kevin Reilly, president of TBS & TNT, chief creative officer WarnerMedia Direct-to-Consumer, also took the stage to reinforce the company's commitment to world-class storytelling, and how a future direct-to-consumer product rounds out a partnership model - centered around premium content -- that only WarnerMedia can deliver. He emphasized the value of the entertainment brands and massive audiences attracted annually, with TBS, TNT, Adult Swim, and truTV collectively generating1.3 billion hours of engagement and reaching 239 million unique viewers each month. Reilly also defined the evolution of both TBS and TNT, with TBS adding dramas to the fold starting in 2020, the most potent slate of originals on any network in its competitive slate and on TNT, a powerhouse of films, premium sports and high-octane original series.

Throughout Reilly's remarks and in later portions of the presentation, the company reinforced its commitment to investment in premium content. Those announcements, and recent news shared by brands across the portfolio on new and returning series are below.

Already the #1 destination for young adults, Adult Swim is adding on to its successes, including the Emmy-winning hit Rick and Morty, with several series pick-ups: Three Busy Debras, a live-action comedy series from Amy Poehler's Paper Kite Productions; Birdgirl, a new animated spin-off from the world of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law; and Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal, a new animated series from the creator of Samurai Jack.

Adding to a highly anticipated line-up that already includes new seasons of Claws (June 9) and Animal Kingdom (May 28), and the debut of Ann Curry's Chasing the Cure, TNT announced an expansive deal with All Elite Wrestling, which will deliver for fans a weekly live telecast starting this fall featuring wrestling superstars such as Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega and more. Further, audiences will get an up-close and personal look at basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal in a new docu-series, Shaq Life.

TBS is building on its standing as the home of the most popular and critically-acclaimed comedies on cable by announcing the return of The Last O.G. for Season 3 and Miracle Workers for Season 2. Coming soon to the network are two new projects: Saturday Night Live alum Nasim Pedrad stars in the single-camera comedy Chad; and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee's Amy Hoggart is starring in a yet-to-be-titled comedy. And, next year, TBS will add dramas into its line-up, starting with the premier of Snowpiercer, which had a second season already ordered.

truTV announced greenlights of its first animated series, This Functional Family from comedian Jo Koy, and a new series Game Changers (working title) from Clayton English and Noah Gardenswartz. The Emmy-nominated and critically-lauded series At Home with Amy Sedaris will return for its third season, along with new seasons of Laff Mobb's Laff Tracks and The Carbonaro Effect. And, additional episodes of Adam Ruins Everything will be launching later this year.

Closing out the morning presentation, Donna Speciale, president of WarnerMedia Ad Sales, took the stage to articulate the distinct advantage advertisers have by partnering with WarnerMedia's unified sales organization, now operating at the scale of AT&T. The message was clear: WarnerMedia's ability to package culturally-relevant, premium content to deliver full funnel solutions that drive impact for advertisers has never been easier. Speciale hit on the company's ongoing partn

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