Investors Are Worried About AT&T’s Content Game
The communications giant has amassed a huge media business, but an entertainment brain drain concerns a big investor.
Not long ago, an AT&T Inc. executive named Brad Bentley had a novel idea for HBO. Over the years the premium TV network had explored just about every edgy storytelling topic, whether it was the suburban mob bosses of The Sopranos or the incestuous and dragon-riding public servants of Game of Thrones. But Bentley, according to a person familiar with the matter, told network executives in a meeting that the moment had finally come for HBO to expose its millions of subscribers to the one thing that had remained taboo during its 46-year history: commercials.
The suggestion didn’t go over well. HBO executives were stunned at the idea of larding down the network’s prestigious programming with ads, no matter how much money it could generate, and pushed back forcefully. “We will never carry ads on HBO,” a company spokesman said.