AT&T Inc. CEO John Stankey has defended moves by the telco and media giant to shift its legacy theatrical business towards the streaming space with HBO Max amid the pandemic. "It was a bold and aggressive swing; it was done with a lot of thought about what needed to be done in the subscriber space and the balance of value in our franchises between our theatrical and streaming businesses," Stankey told analysts during a morning call following the release of AT&T's fourth quarter financial results.
In Dec. 2020, Warner Bros. and WarnerMedia announced they would severely disrupt the theatrical window and send the entire 17-picture 2021 film slate to the HBO Max streaming service, debuting titles on the same day they would open in whichever.
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