Jeff Bewkes Lauds Kevin Tsujihara, And Warner Bros’ Prospects
The Time Warner CEO says he gave the top studio job to Warner Bros‘ former Home Entertainment Group chief Kevin Tsujihara in part because he “has the greatest breadth of experience across Warner Bros’ businesses” including TV, theatrical, digital, and consumer products. Bewkes told analysts that “Kevin’s going to be a great leader”, adding that he’s “very thoughtful about the future of the studio business.” He also praised the operation’s “very strong group of executives” including Bruce Rosenblum at Warner Bros Television Group and Jeff Robinov at Warner Bros. Pictures Group. “All of those executives have very strong benches of people beneath them,” he adds. “I’m very optimistic about how that’s going to go.” CFO John Martin says that, as far as he can tell, Warner just reported the “highest quarterly profit any studio has generated in any particular quarter.” He added that with upcoming films including Man Of Steel, Hangover 3, and the second installment of The Hobbit the company expects Warner to have “another strong year in 2013…as good if not better than 2012.” Execs say that the home entertainment business has stabilized, with growth in digital sales offsetting the decline in DVDs. But TV production accounted for about 60% of Warner Bros profits, and the television ecosystem generated 85% of Time Warner profits last year while 10% came from movies.
Related: Time Warner Reports Mixed Q4 Financials As It Increases Dividend By 11%
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