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117-595: Atarisoft was so successful during the Christmas 1983 shopping season that the company released games for the discontinued TI-99/4A. By 1984 a rumor stated that Atari planned to discontinue hardware and only sell software. Despite being in existence for less than two years, Atarisoft had a huge video game library with dozens of game versions released. Almost all Atarisoft releases were produced by third-party developers, as Atari only developed for their own systems. The Atarisoft label did not bear Atari's recognizable "Fuji" logo nor

234-458: A TV Everywhere service offering access to live streaming and on-demand content from Discovery Communications' cable networks. In May 2016, Discovery initiated a restructuring plan aiming to save $ 40 to $ 60 million by the third quarter of 2016, including a shift in strategy to "maximize" its linear television business whilst plotting larger investments in content, digital media, sports, and international markets. In August 2016, Discovery purchased

351-457: A vertically integrated media conglomerate ) with Discovery Inc. to form a new company, subject to regulatory approval. The merger, scheduled to be completed in mid-2022, would be structured as a Reverse Morris Trust ; AT&T shareholders will hold a 71% interest in the new company's stock and appoint seven board members, and Discovery shareholders will hold 29% and appoint six board members. AT&T will receive $ 43 billion in cash and debt from

468-428: A "lifestyle focused media network" with Discovery named after their personal company Magnolia. It was reported that Discovery had considered rebranding either DIY Network or Great American Country as this new channel. In April 2019, Discovery confirmed its Magnolia joint venture, which is scheduled to launch in 2020 and replace DIY Network, with an over-the-top subscription component to launch later. Magnolia Network

585-509: A 71% stake in the merged company, which is expected to be led by Discovery's current CEO David Zaslav . Discovery, Inc. Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City . Established in 1982, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channel , Animal Planet , Science Channel , and TLC . In 2018,

702-485: A board meeting prompted Steve Case to contact each of the directors and push for CEO Gerald Levin's ouster. Although Case's coup attempt was rebuffed by Parsons and several other directors, Levin became frustrated with being unable to "regain the rhythm" at the combined company and handed in his resignation in the fall of 2001, effective in May 2002. Although Co-COO Bob Pittman was the strongest supporter of Levin and largely seen as

819-587: A brief filed by the Justice Department, it was argued that the decision to approve the acquisition ran "contrary to fundamental economic logic and the evidence". On August 7, 2018, AT&T acquired the remaining controlling stake in Otter Media from the Chernin Group for an undisclosed amount. The company operated as a division of WarnerMedia. On August 29, 2018, Makan Delrahim told Recode that if

936-532: A core part of their life." With Discovery choosing 230 Park Avenue South as its new New York City headquarters, Discovery sold its former Silver Spring headquarters to Foulger-Pratt and Cerberus Capital Management in September 2018, and leased a smaller space at nearby 8403 Colesville Road. In November 2018, Chip and Joanna Gaines of the former HGTV series Fixer Upper announced on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon , that they were in early talks to form

1053-536: A day care center inside were safely removed to a nearby McDonald's restaurant on Colesville Rd. Lee was shot and killed by an MCPD SWAT team at 4:48 p.m. ET after the hostages made a run to escape. The remaining hostages were immediately freed. The incident was described by the FBI as the first instance of a would-be suicide bomber taking hostages in the United States. Lee was an environmental protester who, in 2008,

1170-458: A government official the following day, with the latter criticizing the reports as being an effort to politicize the deal. Stephenson also disputed the relevance of CNN to the antitrust concerns surrounding the acquisition, as AT&T did not already own a national news channel. On November 20, 2017, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit over the acquisition; Delrahim stated that

1287-436: A joint venture with The New York Times . In June 2002, coinciding with Discovery's 17th anniversary, the company launched a 24/7 high definition channel known as Discovery HD Theater . In 2003, Discovery Communications moved its headquarters from Bethesda to Silver Spring . In 2003 and 2004, Discovery acquired academic film companies such as AGC, AIMS Multimedia, and Clearvue & SVE to form Discovery Education, which

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1404-620: A joint venture with Hasbro to relaunch Discovery Kids as a new youth- and family-oriented entertainment channel. The channel, ultimately named The Hub , launched on October 10, 2010. After multiple delays, OWN officially launched on January 1, 2011. On March 17, 2009, Discovery Communications sued Amazon.com for patent infringement by its Kindle e-reader line, regarding "secure distribution of electronic text and graphics to subscribers and secure storage". The patents were originally developed by Discovery founder John Hendricks , who had been developing technologies related to e-books and

1521-501: A joint venture with Oprah Winfrey 's Harpo Productions to relaunch Discovery Health as a new service, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network , in 2009. In 2008, Discovery Times was relaunched as Investigation Discovery , a new brand that would be dedicated to true crime programs and documentaries. The company also formed its Emerging Networks Group, and named Clark Bunting as president and Clint Stinchcomb as executive vice president and general manager. On April 30, 2009, Discovery announced

1638-491: A major corporate revamp that resulted in TBS, TNT and TruTV being brought back under the same umbrella as Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Boomerang and TCM, under a consolidation of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment's respective assets that formed the combined WarnerMedia Studios & Networks Group unit. Casey Bloys—who has been with WarnerMedia since 2004 (as director of development at HBO Independent Productions), and

1755-876: A majority stake at a later date. On July 31, 2017, Discovery announced it would acquire Scripps Networks Interactive , owner of networks such as Food Network , HGTV , and DIY Network , for $ 14.6 billion, pending regulatory approval. On March 6, 2018, the acquisition was completed, with the company renamed as Discovery, Inc. afterwards. Following the purchase, SNI shareholders owned 20% of Discovery's stock. Discovery retained an operational hub in SNI's home city of Knoxville , but planned to move its corporate headquarters from Silver Spring, Maryland, where it had operated since 2003, to New York City in late-2019. Discovery's brands were reorganized into two groups under different chief brand officers : SNI's chief programmer Kathleen Finch became chief brand officer of Lifestyle, overseeing TLC,

1872-498: A meeting between AT&T CEO Randall L. Stephenson and Makan Delrahim , assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division , indicated that AT&T had been recommended to divest DirecTV or Turner Broadcasting, seek alternative antitrust remedies, or abandon the acquisition. Some news outlets reported that AT&T had been ordered to specifically divest CNN, but these claims were denied by both Stephenson and

1989-596: A merger structure in which each original company merged into a newly created entity. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cleared the deal on December 14, 2000, and gave final approval on January 11, 2001; the company completed the merger later that day. The deal was approved on the same day by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and had already been cleared by the European Commission (EC) on October 11, 2000. AOL Time Warner Inc. , as

2106-660: A minority stake in the Hong Kong-based digital talent and content company VS Media; Discovery intended to have VS distribute Discovery Digital Networks content in China, and to offer their own resources to VS. In October 2016, Discovery purchased a minority stake in Group Nine Media , a digital media holding company consisting of Thrillist Media Group , NowThis , The Dodo and Discovery's digital network Seeker—for $ 100 million. The transaction gave Discovery an option to acquire

2223-478: A movie review aggregator. In June 2012, Time Warner acquired Alloy Entertainment , a publisher and television studio whose works are aimed at teen girls and young women. On August 6, 2012, Time Warner acquired Bleacher Report , a sports news website. The property was placed under the control of the Turner Sports division. On March 6, 2013, Time Warner intended to spin off its publishing division Time Inc. as

2340-403: A potential sale in a memo to CW staffers, but added that "It's too early to speculate what might happen" and that the network "must continue to do what we do best." On January 26, 2022, it was reported that the merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. was expected to close sometime during the second quarter of 2022. This was later narrowed down to mid-April 2022. On February 1, 2022, it

2457-516: A result of planned cost cutting programs, the sale of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment was proposed, but ultimately abandoned due to COVID-19 related growth in the Gaming industry, as well as a positive reception to upcoming DC Comics , Lego Star Wars , and Harry Potter titles from fans and critics. Crunchyroll was sold to Sony 's Funimation for US$ 1.175 billion in December 2020, with

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2574-573: A separate, publicly traded company. The transaction was completed on June 6, 2014. In January 2014, Time Warner, Related Companies , and Oxford Properties Group announced that the then Time Warner intended to relocate the company's corporate headquarters and its New York City-based employees to 30 Hudson Yards in the Hudson Yards neighborhood in Chelsea, Manhattan , and has accordingly made an initial financial commitment. Time Warner sold its stake in

2691-403: A smaller company made up of Turner Broadcasting, Warner Bros. and HBO. On February 28, 2008, co-chairmen and co-CEOs of New Line Cinema Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne resigned from the 40-year-old movie studio in response to Jeffrey Bewkes' demand for cost-cutting measures at the studio, which he intended to dissolve into Warner Bros. In 2009, Time Warner spun out its Time Warner Cable division (it

2808-483: A stake in the struggling CBS Eye on People channel; Discovery eventually acquired the remainder of CBS's stake, leading to its January 1999 relaunch as Discovery People . The network quietly folded in 2000, being replaced by other Discovery channels on providers. On September 1, 2001, Discovery Communications bought The Health Channel, and announced that it would be re-branded as FitTV . In 2002, Discovery relaunched Discovery Civilization as Discovery Times, as part of

2925-474: A television network made specifically for dogs. In May 2014, Discovery and its shareholder Liberty Media acquired British television studio All3Media for $ 930 million in a 50/50 joint venture. The new ownership stated that All3Media would be operated as an independent company. In October 2014, Discovery acquired controlling interest in Hub Network from Hasbro and re-branded it as Discovery Family . During

3042-451: A television production company, for £100 million. Its distribution operation, Outright Distribution, was folded into Warner Bros. International Television Production. On August 26, 2010, Time Warner acquired Chilevisión . WarnerMedia already operated in the country with CNN Chile . In May 2011, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group acquired Flixster , a movie discovery application company. The acquisition also includes Rotten Tomatoes ,

3159-410: A young adult-oriented network into one that featured more unscripted and even national news programming. However, reports also indicated that WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS could include a contractual commitment that would require any new owner to buy new programming from those companies, allowing them to reap some continual revenue through the network. Network president/CEO Mark Pedowitz confirmed talks of

3276-508: Is now led by Jeremy Cowdrey, former CEO of Imagine Learning. In 2019, Discovery Communications moved its headquarters to New York City , keeping 300 employees in a smaller hub in Silver Spring. Former NBCUniversal executive David Zaslav was named president and CEO of Discovery Communications on November 16, 2006. In the years that followed, Zaslav placed a major focus on bolstering Discovery's core networks, programming, and expanding

3393-638: Is now part of Charter Communications), and later AOL, as independent companies; AOL was later purchased by Verizon in 2015. In the first quarter of 2010, Time Warner purchased additional interests in HBO Latin America Group for $ 217 million, which resulted HBO owning 80% of the equity interests of HBO LAG. In 2010, HBO purchased the remainder of its partners' interests in HBO Europe (formerly HBO Central Europe) for $ 136 million, net of cash acquired. In August 2010, Time Warner agreed to acquire Shed Media,

3510-536: Is responsible for sales and distribution), while Turner gained access to Warner Bros.' post-1950 library, as well as other Warner Bros.-owned properties. The Turner deal also brought two separate film companies, New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment , both of which were integrated into Warner Bros. The Turner deal also gave Time Warner Entertainment access to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)'s pre-May 1986 library. Time Warner Entertainment completed its purchase of Six Flags Theme Parks in 1993 after buying half of

3627-547: Is the foundation for an in development global cycling OTT service. On April 1, 2019, after a previous agreement with the broadcaster lapsed six years prior, Discovery announced a 10-year global content partnership with BBC Studios , under which it will become the exclusive subscription video-on-demand rightsholder of programming from the BBC Natural History Unit (which will become the basis of an international subscription service by 2020) outside of China, Ireland, and

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3744-544: The AT&;T SportsNet regional networks led by CNN president Jeff Zucker . Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, their respective production studios, as well as Turner Classic Movies and Otter Media would be moved directly under Warner Bros. Gerhard Zeiler moved from being president of Turner International to chief revenue officer of WarnerMedia, and would oversee the consolidated advertising and affiliation sales. David Levy and HBO chief Richard Plepler stepped down as part of

3861-582: The Columbus Circle building for $ 1.3 billion to Related and two wealth funds. The move would be completed in 2019. In June 2014, Rupert Murdoch made a bid for Time Warner at $ 85 per share in stock and cash ($ 80 billion total) which Time Warner's board of directors turned down in July. Time Warner's CNN unit would have been sold to ease antitrust issues of the purchase. On August 5, 2014, Murdoch withdrew his offer to purchase Time Warner. On October 20, 2016, it

3978-402: The digitization of television programs. While Discovery had divested the television-related patents, it retained the e-book patents. Amazon subsequently accused Discovery of violating a patent for an "Internet-based customer referral system"; The two parties settled in 2011. On October 4, 2011, due to the wider implementation of high-definition feeds for mainstream cable channels, HD Theater

4095-616: The 1970s and 1980s. It also owned DC Comics and Mad magazine . The European publishing division, which produced magazines and comics, was known as Williams Publishing ; thanks to a prior acquisition (from Gilberton World-Wide Publications ), it had European-language branches in the United Kingdom, Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , the Netherlands, Norway , and Sweden . Most of these publishers were sold off around 1979. During its time as Warner Communications,

4212-478: The AOL division dropped significantly, not unlike the market valuation of similar independent internet companies that drastically fell, and forced a goodwill write-off , causing AOL Time Warner to report a loss of $ 99 billion in 2002 — at the time, the largest loss ever reported by a company. The total value of AOL stock subsequently went from $ 226 billion to about $ 20 billion. An outburst by Vice-Chairman Ted Turner at

4329-420: The AOL division for failing to meet expectations and dragging down the combined company. AOL Time Warner COO Pittman, who expected to have the divisions working closely towards convergence instead found heavy resistance from many division executives, who also criticized Pittman for adhering to optimistic growth targets for AOL Time Warner that were never met. Some of the attacks on Pittman were reported to come from

4446-642: The Atarisoft brand. Several Atari 8-bit computer titles (both game and non-game) were published by Atari UK and Atari France using the Atarisoft label in 1985. Atari did not use the Atarisoft label again after 1985. These were published during 1983–84. Most were released by Atari, Inc., but some of these were released by Atari Corporation later in 1984. Promoted, partially developed, or fully completed games, but Atari did not publish them. All released in 1985. All released in 1985. Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia )

4563-738: The BBC. In December 2020, Discovery announced that it would launch Discovery+ in the United States on January 4, 2021, which would feature new exclusive programming from across Discovery's brands, and previews of Magnolia Network (whose linear launch had since been delayed to 2022). In May 2021, Discovery formed a multi-platform content partnership with the Georgia Aquarium . On May 17, 2021, AT&T announced that it had reached an agreement to merge its content and broadcasting subsidiary, WarnerMedia (the former Time Warner, which AT&T had acquired in 2018 for just over $ 85 billion in an attempt to become

4680-469: The Department of Justice provided insufficient evidence that the proposed transaction would result in lessened competition. He also warned the government that attempting to obtain an appeal or stay on the ruling would be manifest unjust, as it would cause "certain irreparable harm to the defendants". On June 14, 2018, AT&T announced that it had closed the acquisition of Time Warner. Jeff Bewkes stepped down as CEO of Time Warner while retaining ties with

4797-577: The Discovery Communications headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, prompting an evacuation of the building. Lee's motive was believed to have been grounded in environmental activism . Lee had previously been arrested in 2008 while protesting in front of the same site. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland has since labeled

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4914-452: The TLC and Food Network programs Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes ), and a revival of TLC's While You Were Out incorporating HGTV personalities. On August 3, 2017, Discovery announced that it would contribute Velocity into a joint venture with the digital, live events, and direct-to-consumer businesses of automotive publisher TEN: The Enthusiast Network. Discovery will hold a majority stake in

5031-501: The Time Inc. acquisition and the lawsuit, and allowing the two companies to merge, which was completed on January 10, 1990. US West partnered with Time Warner Entertainment in 1993 to form what was later known as TW Telecom , initially known as Time Warner Communications (also utilized as the brand name for cable operation previously under the ATC name), in order to bring telephone via fiber to

5148-567: The Time Warner board on October 31, 2005. Jeff Bewkes , who eventually became CEO of Time Warner in 2008, described the 2001 merger with AOL as 'the biggest mistake in corporate history'. In 2005, Time Warner was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $ 250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush . On December 27, 2007, newly installed Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes discussed possible plans to spin off Time Warner Cable and sell off AOL and Time Inc. This would leave

5265-480: The Turner Broadcasting System. Its assets were dispersed across two new camps, WarnerMedia Entertainment and WarnerMedia News & Sports. WarnerMedia Entertainment would consist of HBO, TBS, TNT, TruTV, and the direct-to-consumer video service HBO Max. WarnerMedia News & Sports would have CNN Worldwide, Turner Sports (later known briefly as Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, and TNT Sports from 2023), and

5382-514: The UK. In addition, Discovery and the BBC reached an agreement to break up their UKTV joint venture (which was inherited from Scripps), with Discovery acquiring the BBC's shares in the Good Food , Home , and Really channels, and BBC Studios acquiring Discovery's shares in the seven remaining channels, and its streaming platform UKTV Play . Home was later rebranded as a local version of HGTV, and Good Food

5499-698: The United Kingdom. In May 2021, AT&T announced its proposal to merge its media subsidiary WarnerMedia with Discovery, Inc. The transaction was approved by the European Commission in December 2021 and was completed on April 8, 2022, forming Warner Bros. Discovery . The company was established in 1982 in Landover, Maryland as the Cable Educational Network. Its namesake and flagship brand, Discovery Channel , first launched on June 17, 1985. In 1991, Discovery Channel's owners acquired The Learning Channel . Three years later, Cable Educational Network

5616-758: The WarnerMedia Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment assets into a new unit, WarnerMedia Studios & Networks Group. On May 17, 2021, nearly three years after the acquisition, AT&T decided to leave the entertainment business by announcing that it had proposed to sell its ownership of WarnerMedia in a merger with Discovery, Inc. to form a new publicly traded company, Warner Bros. Discovery . The deal closed on April 8, 2022. The company's previous assets included Time Inc., TW Telecom , AOL , Time Warner Cable , AOL Time Warner Book Group , and Warner Music Group ; these operations were either sold to others or spun off as independent companies. The company

5733-525: The acquisition closing in August 2021. On December 21, 2020, WarnerMedia acquired You.i TV, an Ottawa , Ontario -based developer of tools for building cross-platform video streaming apps. The company's products have been the basis of various WarnerMedia streaming platforms, including AT&T TV Now and the Turner channels' apps, and would be used as part of international expansion of HBO Max. On May 16, 2021, it

5850-410: The acquisition, and was completed two days later, when the company became a subsidiary of AT&T. The company's final name was adopted a day later. Under AT&T, the company moved to launch a streaming service built around the company's content, known as HBO Max. WarnerMedia refolded Turner's entertainment-based networks under a singular umbrella unit on August 10, 2020, through a consolidation of

5967-463: The aforementioned Motor Trend -branded network were described as being examples of this strategy. Food Network Kitchen would also launch in 2019, with a focus on live and on-demand cooking classes. In June 2018, Discovery announced a 12-year agreement to acquire the international media rights to the PGA Tour , with plans to develop an international streaming service to house these rights. The service

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6084-608: The case. On October 10, 2018, WarnerMedia announced that it would launch an over-the-top streaming service in late 2019, featuring content from its entertainment brands. On December 14, 2018, Kevin Reilly, president of TNT and TBS, was promoted to chief content officer of all WarnerMedia digital and subscription activities, including HBO Max, reporting to both Turner's president David Levy and WarnerMedia's CEO John Stankey. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. unanimously upheld

6201-507: The chief financial officer. According to AOL President and COO Bob Pittman, the slow-moving Time Warner Entertainment would now take off at Internet speed, accelerated by AOL: "All you need to do is put a catalyst to [Time Warner Entertainment], and in a short period, you can alter the growth rate. The growth rate will be like an Internet company." The vision for Time Warner Entertainment's future seemed clear and straightforward; by tapping into AOL, Time Warner Entertainment would reach deep into

6318-520: The co-head of a new strategy committee of the board, making speeches to divisions on synergism and the promise of the Internet. However, under pressure from institutional investor vice-president Gordon Crawford who lined up dissenters, Case stated in January 2003 that he would not stand for re-election as executive chairman in the upcoming annual meeting, making CEO Richard Parsons the chairman-elect. In July 2003,

6435-540: The company acquired Scripps Networks Interactive , adding networks such as Food Network , HGTV , and Travel Channel to its portfolio. Since the purchase, Discovery described itself as serving members of "passionate" audiences, and also placed a focus on streaming services built around its properties. Discovery owned or had interests in local versions of its channel brands in international markets, in addition to its other major regional operations such as Eurosport (a pan-European group of sports channels, most prominently

6552-558: The company as senior advisor of AT&T. John Stankey , who headed the AT&;T/Time Warner integration team, took over as CEO. On the next day, AT&T renamed the company as WarnerMedia (legally Warner Media, LLC). On July 12, 2018, the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal with the D.C. Circuit to reverse the District Court's approval. Although the Department of Justice reportedly contemplated requesting an injunction to stop

6669-491: The company dropped the "AOL" from its name, and spun off Time-Life 's ownership under the legal name Direct Holdings Americas, Inc. On November 24, 2003, Time Warner announced they would sell the Warner Music Group , which hosted a variety of acts such as Madonna and Prince , to an investor group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Thomas H. Lee Partners , in order to cut its debt down to US $ 20 billion. Case resigned from

6786-449: The company in 1991, saving it from financial trouble. The company was later sold to Oklahoma-based theme park operator Premier Parks under certain terms and conditions on April 1, 1998. Dick Parsons, already a director on the board since 1991, was hired as Time Warner Entertainment president in 1995, although the division operational heads continued to report directly to chairman and CEO Gerald Levin . In 1991, HBO and Cinemax became

6903-506: The company in 2003, relegating the name to a subdivision under Time Warner Cable. On October 10, 1996, Time Warner Entertainment acquired Turner Broadcasting System , which was established by Ted Turner in 1965. Not only did this result in the company re-entering the cable television industry as a national programmer, but Warner Bros. also regained the rights to their pre-1950 film library, which by then had been owned by Turner (the films are still technically held by Turner, but Warner Bros.

7020-421: The company made several further acquisitions. In 1979, Warner formed a joint venture with credit card company American Express called Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment . This company owned such cable channels as MTV , Nickelodeon , The Movie Channel , and VH1 (which was launched in 1985 on the channel space left by Turner 's Cable Music Channel ). Warner bought out American Express's half in 1984 and sold

7137-523: The company was then called, was supposed to be a merger of equals with top executives from both sides. Gerald Levin , who had served as chairman and CEO of Time Warner Entertainment, was CEO of the new company. AOL co-founder Steve Case served as Executive Chairman of the board of directors, Robert W. Pittman (president and COO of AOL) and Dick Parsons (president of Time Warner) served as Co-Chief Operating Officers, and J. Michael Kelly (the CFO from AOL) became

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7254-584: The company's Series C common stock on or about August 6, 2014. In November 2014, Curiosity was spun out as a venture-funded startup , receiving $ 6 million in funding. In November 2015, Discovery Communications and Liberty Global paid approximately $ 195 million for a 3.4% stake in Lionsgate Entertainment with Discovery CEO David Zaslav joining the Lionsgate board of directors as part of the acquisition. In December 2015, Discovery launched Discovery Go,

7371-553: The company's reach into digital media . He described these goals as reflecting an expansion into becoming a "content company" rather than just a "cable company". In March 2007, Discovery sold its stake in Travel Channel back to Cox Communications , in exchange for the stake in Discovery that Cox owned. Cox would later sell the controlling interest in the channel to Scripps Networks Interactive in 2009. In June 2008, Discovery Home

7488-449: The crime a terrorist attack . The incident began at 1:00 p.m. ET , when the 43-year-old Lee entered the building with two starter pistols and fired a single round at the ceiling of the lobby. The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) confirmed that Lee had an explosive device and was holding three people hostage in the lobby. The building was placed on lockdown and most of the 1,500 employees were evacuated. Children from

7605-450: The deal from closing after the District Court's ruling, the department ultimately did not file the motion because WarnerMedia's operation as a separate group from the rest of AT&T would make the business relatively easy to unwind should the appeal be successful. The next day, however, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told CNBC that the appeal would not affect its plans to integrate WarnerMedia into AT&T, or services already launched. In

7722-449: The deal would "greatly harm American consumers". AT&T asserted that this suit was a "radical and inexplicable departure from decades of antitrust precedent". On December 22, 2017, the merger agreement deadline was extended to June 21, 2018, under a vote of confidence. On June 12, 2018, District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in favor of AT&T, thus allowing the acquisition to go ahead with no conditions or remedies. Leon argued that

7839-564: The deal, leaving the review to the Department of Justice (DOJ). On March 15, 2017, the merger was approved by the European Commission (EC). On August 22, 2017, the merger was approved by the Mexican Comisión Federal de Competencia . On September 5, 2017, the merger was approved by the Chilean Fiscalía Nacional Económica. In the wake of the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump , Time Warner's ownership of CNN

7956-507: The entertainment assets of Turner Broadcasting , HBO , and Cinemax as well as Warner Bros. , which itself consisted of the film, animation, television studios, the company's home entertainment division and Studio Distribution Services, its joint venture with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment , DC Comics , New Line Cinema , and, together with CBS Entertainment Group , a 50% interest in The CW ); WarnerMedia News & Sports (consisted of

8073-454: The expected synergies between AOL and other Time Warner Entertainment divisions never materialized, as most Time Warner Entertainment divisions were considered independent fiefs that rarely cooperated prior to the merger. A new incentive program that granted options based on the performance of AOL Time Warner, replacing the cash bonuses for the results of their own division, caused resentment among Time Warner Entertainment division heads who blamed

8190-558: The false heroics behind those actions ". His manifesto also railed against "immigration pollution and anchor baby filth", leading commentators such as Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center to decry Lee as an " eco-fascist ". Lee's opinions were dominated by Malthusian analysis, though he also cited works ranging from Daniel Quinn 's novel My Ishmael to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore 's documentary An Inconvenient Truth . The Washington Post credited

8307-481: The first premium pay services to offer multiplexing to cable customers, with companion channels supplementing the main networks. In 1993, HBO became the world's first digitally transmitted television service. In 1995, CNN introduced CNN.com which later became a leading destination for global digital news, both online and mobile. In 1996, Warner Bros. spearheaded the introduction of the DVD, which gradually replaced VHS tapes as

8424-473: The government were to win the appeal, AT&T would only sell Turner and if they lost the appeal then the February 2019 expiration of a consent decree AT&T reached with the Justice Department shortly before the deal closed would allow AT&T to do what they want with Turner. The appeal was expected to have zero impact on the integration. By September 2018, nine state Attorneys General sided with AT&T on

8541-427: The heir-apparent, Dick Parsons was instead chosen as CEO. Time Warner Entertainment CFO J. Michael Kelly was demoted to COO of the AOL division and replaced as CFO by Wayne Pace. AOL Chairman and CEO Barry Schuler was removed from his position and placed in charge of a new "content creation division", being replaced on an interim basis by Pittman, who was already serving as the sole COO after Parsons' promotion. Many of

8658-453: The homes of tens of millions of new customers. AOL would use Time Warner Entertainment's high-speed cable lines to deliver to its subscribers Time Warner Entertainment's branded magazines, books, music, and movies. This would have created 130 million subscription relationships. However, the growth and profitability of the AOL division stalled due to advertising and loss of market share to the growth of high-speed broadband providers. The value of

8775-410: The lower court's ruling in favor of AT&T on February 26, 2019, stating it did not believe the merger with Time Warner would have a negative impact on either consumers or competition. The Justice Department declined to appeal the decision further, thus allowing the consent decree to expire. On March 4, 2019, AT&T announced a major reorganization of its broadcasting assets to effectively break-up

8892-401: The masses. US West also took a 26% stake in the entertainment portion of the company, calling that division Time Warner Entertainment. US West's stake eventually passed to acquired cable company MediaOne , then to AT&T Broadband in 1999 when that company acquired MediaOne, then finally to Comcast in 2001 when that company bought the AT&T Broadband division. Comcast sold their stake in

9009-647: The merger was approved by the Brazilian antitrust regulator Cade . It was approved by the United States Department of Justice two days later. The transaction was approved by Discovery shareholders on March 11, and formally completed on April 8, 2022. On September 1, 2010, the Discovery headquarters were the site of a hostage taking; a lone gunman identified as James J. Lee ( c.  1967 – September 1, 2010), armed with two starter pistols and an explosive device , took three people hostage inside of

9126-459: The merger, were chosen because they were considered the most successful operational executives in the conglomerate and they would report to AOL Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons. Logan, generally admired at Time Warner Entertainment and reviled by AOL for being a corporate timeserver who stressed incremental steady growth and not much of a risk-taker, moved to purge AOL of Pittman allies. AOL Time Warner Chairman Steve Case took on added prominence as

9243-537: The mobile gaming studio Playdemic from WBIE for US$ 1.4 billion in the same month. In September 2021, Fox Corporation acquired TMZ from WarnerMedia in a deal worth about $ 50 million with TMZ being operated under the Fox Entertainment division. In November 2021, Discovery and WarnerMedia discussed a plan to combine the two streaming services, HBO Max and Discovery+ , into one streaming service in two phases: an initial phase that allows for quick bundling of

9360-465: The most amazing stories to life, with Discovery's global brand that has always stood brightly for integrity, innovation and inspiration". On June 7, 2021, Discovery announced that it would divest Great American Country to GAC Media , a new Fort Worth-based investment group led by Tom Hicks and former Crown Media Holdings CEO Bill Abbott . Electronic Arts , who were a bidder in the proposed sale of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment , purchased

9477-584: The network and Discovery through 2025. Harpo Productions retains a "significant minority stake" in the venture. In February 2018, Discovery sold a majority stake in Discovery Education to the private equity firm Francisco Partners. During its 2018 upfronts, Zaslav stated that the company was now strongly focused on serving "passionate fans and passionate audiences", and was preparing to increase its focus on direct-to-consumer offerings targeting such audiences. The SNI purchase, Eurosport's Olympics rights, and

9594-441: The new company while Time Warner Entertainment shareholders owned only 45%, so in actual practice AOL had merged with Time Warner Entertainment, even though Time Warner Entertainment had far more assets and revenues. Time Warner Entertainment had been looking for a way to embrace the digital revolution, while AOL wanted to anchor its stock price with more tangible assets. The deal, officially filed on February 11, 2000, employed

9711-413: The new streaming service. On May 31, 2019, Otter Media was transferred from Warner Bros. to WarnerMedia Entertainment, and Otter's COO Andy Forssell became the executive vice president and general manager of the streaming service, while still reporting to Otter CEO Tony Goncalves — who would lead development. On July 9, 2019, it was announced that the new streaming service would be known as HBO Max , which

9828-584: The newly created media and communications group, overseeing America Online, Time, Time Warner Cable, the AOL Time Warner Book Group, and the Interactive Video unit, relegating AOL to being just another division in the conglomerate. Bewkes became chairman of the entertainment and networks group, comprising HBO, Cinemax, New Line Cinema, The WB, TNT, Turner Networks, Warner Bros., and Warner Music Group. Both Logan and Bewkes, who had initially opposed

9945-470: The news and sports assets of Turner Broadcasting, including CNN , Turner Sports , and AT&T SportsNet ); WarnerMedia Sales & Distribution (consisted of digital media company Otter Media ); and WarnerMedia Direct (consisted of the HBO Max streaming service). Despite spinning off Time Inc. in 2014, the company retained the Time Warner name until 2018, when the company was renamed WarnerMedia after it

10062-514: The official logos of the games, rather, the game names were written in a different typeface. The Atarisoft brand as used by Atari, Inc. was discontinued shortly after Warner Communications sold Atari's consumer division to Jack Tramiel in 1984. Many additional games were in production at the time. Most went unreleased although a few were eventually released by other companies. Some games were complete, such as IBM PC port of Stargate , but never published. The new Atari Corporation initially used

10179-529: The print media in the Time, Inc. division under Don Logan . Furthermore, CEO Parsons' democratic style prevented Pittman from exercising authority over the "old-guard" division heads who resisted Pittman's synergy initiatives. Pittman resigned as AOL Time Warner COO after July 4, 2002, being reportedly burned out by the AOL special assignment and almost hospitalized, unhappy about the criticism from Time Warner executives, and seeing nowhere to move up in firm as Parsons

10296-573: The reorganization, which was described by The Wall Street Journal as being intended to end "fiefdoms". Turner Podcast Network, formed within Turner Content Distribution in 2017, became WarnerMedia Podcast Network by May 2019. In May 2019, Kevin Reilly signed a four-year extension of his contract with the company, which additionally made him president of TruTV (alongside the other three WarnerMedia Entertainment basic cable networks), and chief content officer of direct-to-consumer for

10413-623: The rightsholder of the Olympic Games throughout most of Europe), GolfTV (an international golf -focused streaming service, which is the international digital rightsholder of the PGA Tour ), Discovery Communications Nordic (which operates general-interest channels in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland), TVN Group in Poland, and a portfolio of various free-to-air channels in Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and

10530-470: The same month of that year, Discovery Communications announced a special dividend of shares of the company's Series C common stock payable to holders of record of the company's Series A common stock, Series B common stock and Series C common stock as of the close of business on July 28, 2014. As a result of the dividend, each holder of a share of the company's Series A common stock, Series B common stock or Series C common stock will receive one additional share of

10647-449: The same umbrella as AT&T's telecommunication holdings, including satellite provider DirecTV . The deal faced criticism for the possibility that AT&T could use Time Warner content as leverage to discriminate against or limit access to the content by competing providers. On February 15, 2017, Time Warner shareholders approved the merger. On February 28, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai refused to review

10764-575: The services and a second phase that allows for a common service on one tech platform. In the same month, it was announced that Discovery will rename itself Warner Bros. Discovery and reclassify and convert its stock into stock of WBD. On December 22, 2021, it was announced that the transaction was approved by the European Commission and it is expected to be completed in mid-2022, subject to approval by Discovery shareholders and additional closing conditions. On January 5, 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that WarnerMedia and Paramount Global (at

10881-571: The six former Scripps channels, and Discovery's other lifestyle networks. Rich Ross , who formerly served as group president of Discovery and Science, stepped down, and would be replaced by TLC president Nancy Daniels as chief brand officer of Discovery & Factual. An on-air result of the acquisition were multiple programs featuring crossovers between TLC and Scripps talent, such as the Food Network series Buddy vs. Duff (a cake design competition series starring Buddy Valastro and Duff Goldman of

10998-461: The spin-off. Zaslav will lead the new company. He stated that the new company's goal would be to "[tell] the most amazing stories and have a ton of fun doing it", and emphasized that the two companies spend over $ 20 billion annually on content (outpacing Disney , Netflix and even Amazon ). The company will aim to expand their streaming services (which includes WarnerMedia's HBO Max ) to reach 400 million global subscribers. On June 1, 2021, it

11115-402: The standard format for home video in the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s. In 1999, HBO became the first national cable television network to broadcast a high–definition version of its channel. In January 2000, America Online (AOL) stated its intentions to purchase Time Warner Entertainment for $ 183 billion. Due to the larger market capitalization of AOL, their shareholders would own 55% of

11232-431: The time known as ViacomCBS) were exploring a possible sale of either a majority stake or all of The CW , and that Nexstar Media Group (which became The CW's largest affiliate group when it acquired former WB co-owner Tribune Broadcasting in 2019) was considered a leading bidder. The news led to speculation that, should a sale take place, new ownership could steer the network in a new direction, transforming The CW from

11349-493: The two companies were to merge. During the summer of 1989, Paramount Communications (then Gulf+Western ) launched a $ 12.2 billion hostile bid to acquire Time Inc. in an attempt to end a stock-swap merger deal between Time Inc. and Warner Communications. Time Inc. raised its bid to $ 14.9 billion in cash and stock. Paramount responded by filing a lawsuit in a Delaware court to block the Time Warner merger. The court ruled twice in favor of Time Inc., forcing Paramount to drop both

11466-556: The venture a year later to the original iteration of Viacom , which renamed it MTV Networks (now known as Paramount Media Networks). In 1982, Warner purchased Popular Library from CBS Publications . By the mid to late 1980s, Warner began to face financial difficulties. From 1976 to 1984, Warner Communications owned Atari, Inc. , but suffered substantial losses due to the video game crash of 1983 , and had to spin them off in 1984. Taking advantage of Warner Communications' financial situation, Time Inc. announced on March 4, 1989, that

11583-555: The venture; it will not include TEN's print brands, but there will be opportunities for cross-promotion. In April 2018, it was announced that TEN had been renamed Motor Trend Group , and that Velocity would be re-branded as an extension of its namesake magazine Motor Trend . In December 2017, Discovery announced that it would acquire an additional 24.5% stake in OWN that it did not already own, for $ 70 million. Oprah Winfrey will remain as CEO of OWN, and extended her exclusivity agreement with

11700-408: Was acquired by AT&T. On October 22, 2016, AT&T officially announced that they intended on acquiring Time Warner for $ 85.4 billion (or $ 108.7 billion when including assumed Time Warner debt), valuing the company at $ 107.50 per share. The proposed merger was confirmed on June 12, 2018, after AT&T won an antitrust lawsuit that the U.S. Justice Department filed in 2017 to attempt to block

11817-419: Was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T . It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City . It was established as Time Warner in 1990, following a merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications. The company had film, television and cable operations. Its assets included WarnerMedia Studios & Networks (which consisted of

11934-403: Was announced that the merged company would be known as Warner Bros. Discovery , and an interim wordmark was unveiled with the tagline "The stuff dreams are made from"—a line from the 1941 Warner Bros. film The Maltese Falcon . Zaslav stated that the name would reflect "the combination of Warner Bros.' fabled hundred-year legacy of creative, authentic storytelling and taking bold risks to bring

12051-463: Was closed in favor of the local version of Food Network. On May 13, 2019, Discovery announced that it would acquire Golf Digest from Condé Nast to integrate into its Discovery Golf division. In March 2020, Discovery began to deploy a new direct-to-consumer brand known as Discovery+ , initially in India, which would focus on content from across its factual and lifestyle television brands, as well as

12168-450: Was considered a potential source of scrutiny for the deal, as Trump had repeatedly criticized the network for how it covered his administration , and stated during his campaign that he planned to block the acquisition because of the potential impact of the resulting consolidation. Following his election, however, his transition team stated that the government planned to evaluate the deal without prejudice. On November 8, 2017, reports of

12285-473: Was eventually elevated to President of Programming at HBO and Cinemax in May 2016—added oversight of WarnerMedia's basic cable networks and HBO Max to his purview. In October 2020, it was announced that the company was planning to execute over a 1,000 job cuts in order to reduce costs. WarnerMedia plans to reduce costs by at least 20% in order to deal with the profit shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic . As

12402-404: Was firmly entrenched as CEO. Pittman's departure was seen as a great victory to Time Warner executives who wanted to undo the merger. In a sign of AOL's diminishing importance to the media conglomerate, Pittman's responsibilities were divided between two Time Warner Entertainment veterans; Jeffrey Bewkes who was CEO of Home Box Office, and Don Logan who had been CEO of Time. Logan became chairman of

12519-405: Was given six months of supervised probation and fined $ 500 after he was arrested during a protest outside the Discovery Communications headquarters. Lee had published criticisms of the network in an online manifesto at Savetheplanetprotest.com, among which was a demand for the company to cease the broadcasting of television series displaying or encouraging the birth of " parasitic human infants and

12636-518: Was launched on May 27, 2020. In September 2019, Stankey was promoted to AT&T president and chief operating officer. By April 1, 2020, former Hulu chief Jason Kilar took over as WarnerMedia CEO. In August 2020, the company had a significant restructuring laying off around 800 employees including around 600 from Warner and 150+ from HBO. At WarnerMedia's Atlanta base, marketing and cable operations teams were particularly affected. On August 10, 2020, WarnerMedia restructured several of its units in

12753-535: Was officially announced in October 2018 as GolfTV , with Eurosport executive vice president Alex Kaplan named the president and general manager of Discovery Golf. Former Amazon executive Peter Faricy, who was named Discovery's chief executive of global direct-to-consumer operations in August 2018, considered GolfTV consistent with the aforementioned strategy, as golf was one of several sports "where people's passions and their interest in participating and learning more becomes

12870-471: Was originally scheduled to launch on October 4, 2020, but it was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States . It was also announced that Fixer Upper would be revived for the new channel. In January 2019, Discovery increased its ownership of Play Sports Group, operator of the YouTube channel Global Cycling Network , to 71%. Discovery previously acquired a 20% share in 2017. The group

12987-534: Was ranked No. 98 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. On February 10, 1972, the entertainment assets of the Kinney National Company were reincorporated as Warner Communications due to a financial scandal involving price fixing in its parking operations. Warner Communications served as the parent company for Warner Bros. Pictures , the Warner Music Group (WMG), Warner Books and Warner Cable during

13104-444: Was relaunched as Velocity , a new "upscale male" network focusing on automotive programming. On May 26, 2012, Planet Green (which had begun to abandon its original concept in 2010 due to poor viewership) was relaunched as Destination America . In January 2014, Discovery launched Curiosity , a website that aggregates online education content. In April 2014, Discovery made an investment and strategic partnership with Dog TV ,

13221-533: Was renamed Discovery Communications. In October 1996, Discovery launched several new spin-off networks, including Animal Planet , and the digital cable channels Discovery Kids , Discovery Travel & Living , Discovery Civilization , and Science Channel . This was followed by the 1997 purchase of a 70% stake in Travel Channel , and the 1998 launches of Discovery en Español , Discovery Wings , and Discovery Health Channel . Also in 1998, Discovery acquired

13338-431: Was replaced by Planet Green , a network devoted primarily to environmentalism and sustainable living . In 2007, according to Crunchbase , TreeHugger was acquired by Discovery Communications on August 1, 2007, for $ 10 million. In 2012, Mother Nature Network , founded by Joel Babbit and Chuck Leavell (now Narrative Content Group) acquired TreeHugger. On January 15, 2008, Discovery announced that it had entered into

13455-477: Was reported that AT&T was in talks to acquire Time Warner. The proposed deal would give AT&T significant holdings in the media industry. AT&T's competitor Comcast had previously acquired NBCUniversal in a similar bid to increase its media holdings, in concert with its ownership of television and internet providers. On October 22, 2016, AT&T reached a deal to buy Time Warner for $ 85.4 billion. The merger would bring Time Warner's properties under

13572-423: Was reported that AT&T had elected to structure the merger as a spin-off of WarnerMedia, followed by a merger with Discovery Inc. to form the new company. The company had been contemplating structuring the transaction as a split-off (under which AT&T shareholders would be given the option as to whether to exchange their shares for those of the new company, rather than receive them pro rata ). On February 7,

13689-449: Was reported that AT&T was in talks with Discovery, Inc. —which primarily operated television channels and platforms devoted to non-fiction and unscripted content—for it to merge with WarnerMedia, forming a publicly traded company that would be divided between its shareholders. The proposed spin-off and merger was officially announced the next day, which is to be structured as a Reverse Morris Trust . AT&T shareholders would receive

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