AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson called Netflix the “Walmart” of video on demand services, while HBO -now part of the group after the acquisition of Time Warner- is the “Tiffany” of media and entertainment.
The executive made the comparison on Wednesday during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference in New York. “HBO is a very unique brand,” Stephenson said at the event. “I think of Netflix as kind of the Walmart of SVOD (streaming video on demand),” Stephenson said during an appearance at Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia conference, according to various outlets. “HBO’s kind of like the Tiffany.”
According to Variety, Stephenson also said AT&T is working to launch a new direct-to-consumer model for WarnerMedia (the former Time Warner), built around the Warner Bros. content library. The company plans to reveal more details about this initiative in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The executive said that AT&T will “step up” the investment in content at HBO, which spends around USD 2 billion annually on content, Variety reported. However, he clarified that they are not trying to achieve Netflix’s level of investment.