WarnerMedia is realigning Otter Media, giving CEO Tony Goncalves and COO Andy Forssell key roles in the company’s upcoming streaming service.
Goncalves will lead development for the yet-to-be-named service — in addition to remaining as CEO of Otter Media — while Forssell will serve as executive vice president and general manager. Forssell has experience in this area, as the former CEO of Hulu. Otter Media is also being put under WarnerMedia entertainment CEO Bob Greenblatt’s purview, with Goncalves reporting to him directly.
Kevin Reilly, who just signed a new contract that gave him oversight of truTV, will remain as the chief content officer for the upcoming service. Brad Bentley, who was the streaming service’s general manager, is leaving the company.
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“As we continue to build out our new streaming business and realign WarnerMedia functions, this step will facilitate further scale and focus in our efforts to offer customers an engaging and compelling product experience,” John Stankey, CEO, WarnerMedia, said. “I’m confident that with Tony and Andy leading our product and operations, Kevin and HBO’s Casey Bloys guiding our content strategy, and with Bob at the helm, we have a formidable team creating a curated streaming service with a winning combination of content and features. I also want to thank Brad for his leadership in bringing this project to this point in record time.”
AT&T acquired The Chernin Group’s controlling interest in Otter Media, which had been a joint venture between the two companies, last August. AT&T and The Chernin Group invested $500 million into Otter Media in 2014 to develop platforms and properties that capitalized on the growth of direct-to-consumer subscription and advertising models, as well as the rise of new digital media brands.
WarnerMedia will release a beta version of its upcoming service at the end of this year, with a full launch planned for 2020.
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