• by Wayne Friedman , March 4, 2019

WarnerMedia has confirmed major senior-level executive shifts for HBO and Turner TV.  Robert Greenblatt, former chairman of NBC Entertainment, is becoming chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer.

Greenblatt will oversee HBO, the linear cable TV networks TNT, TBS and truTV, and its new direct-to-consumer business. He will report to John Stankey, CEO, WarnerMedia.

In addition, CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker will become chairman of WarnerMedia News & Sports, now overseeing CNN Worldwide (CNN, CNN.com, CNN International, CNN en Español, HLN, Great Big Story), Turner Sports, Bleacher Report and the AT&T Regional Sports Networks.

Kevin Tsujihara, CEO, Warner Bros., will add new global business duties for the areas of kids and young adults to his film and TV production responsibilities.

Gerhard Zeiler will be Chief Revenue Officer, WarnerMedia, overseeing WarnerMedia affiliates and advertising sales groups. He had been president of Turner International.

These moves follow news of HBO and Turner senior executive departures -- Richard Plepler, CEO, HBO, and David Levy, president of Turner. Levy had been with Turner for 33 years. Plepler was with HBO for 27 years. Both decisions came just days after the Justice Department lost a final appeal to stop AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner,

AT&T is looking to start a new, ambitious WarnerMedia direct-to-consumer business. It is said to want more TV and movie production from HBO, as well as Turner, contributing to the new venture.

In December, WarnerMedia announced Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer, Turner, would be in charge of programming the streaming service, which will include shows from HBO and the Turner networks. Reilly had the senior executive role at NBC Entertainment before Greenblatt.