Chief Executive Officer of WarnerMedia Jason Kilar tweeted he now regrets remarks made just hours before on the impact the pandemic has had on the entertainment industry.
WarnerMedia is the parent company of entertainment consumer brands such as HBO, HBO Max, CNN, Warner Bros., TNT and Cartoon Network among others, according to Business Wire. AT&T announced Feb. 25 it would webcast a speech Kilar was slated to deliver Thursday at Morgan Stanley Technology. The webcast shows that Kilar said, “CNN is killing it.”
“It turns out the pandemic is a pretty big part of the news cycle and that’s not going away any time soon … It turns out it’s really good for ratings,” Kilar said on the webcast.
“It turns out the pandemic is a pretty big part of the news cycle and that’s not going away any time soon…It turns out it’s really good for ratings.” Jason Kilar on post-Trump CNN. Careful. That’s awful close to Moonves line that Trump may be bad for U.S. but he’s good for CBS.
— Joe Flint (@JBFlint) March 4, 2021
Wall Street Journal Media Reporter Joe Flint took note of this remark on twitter, saying “Jason Kilar on post-Trump CNN. Careful. That’s awful close to Moonves line that Trump may be bad for U.S. but he’s good for CBS.”
Kilar replied to Flint’s tweet just before 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning, 15 minutes after Flint tweeted it out. Kilar said, “I agree Joe. I would like nothing more than for this pandemic to be well behind us. I mean that with every fiber in my body.”
I agree Joe. I would like nothing more than for this pandemic to be well behind us. I mean that with every fiber in my body. I wish I could go back and be more thoughtful about my communication.
— Jason Kilar (@jasonkilar) March 4, 2021
“I wish I could go back and be more thoughtful about my communication,” Kilar added. (RELATED: CNN Gives Little Air Time To Cuomo #MeToo Allegations)
Over the course of his remarks, Kilar answered questions from Morgan Stanley’s Simon Flannery and Ben Swinburne. Kilar discussed the future for WarnerMedia’s efforts to provide entertainment content direct to consumer, such as the future of HBO Max. He also touted that his company was the only major studio providing movies for theaters around the world, giving the consumer a choice to enjoy new films at home or in the theater setting.