September 23, 2010

TRIO TO SHARE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT AT WARNER AS MEYER REMAINS CEO TILL '13 (THR, NYT, VAR, WSJ)

By R. Kinsey Lowe

Time Warner chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes put an end to speculation about who will eventually be put in charge of Warner Bros., for the time being, with Wednesday's announcement that Barry Meyer would remain chairman and CEO of the studio through December 2013 and that three executives who have been jockeying for position will be elevated to a shared Office of the President and will report to Meyer.

Warner Bros. chief operating officer Alan F. Horn will step down April 1, about eight months before the end of his contract. The Office of the President will consist of Jeff Robinov, 51; Bruce Rosenblum, 52; and Kevin Tsujihara, 45, presidents of the film, television and home entertainment groups, respectively.

The contracts of Meyer, 66, and Horn, 67, were up at the end of next year, and instead of naming a successor to Meyer, Bewkes bought more time to decide among Robinov, Rosenblum and Tsujihara, or to look outside the studio ranks for new leadership. Each of the three has made clear his ambition to succeed Meyer.

Robinov, who will have responsibility for greenlighting movies, the Reporter noted, previously reported to Horn, and Rosenblum reportedly directly to Meyer while Tsujihara reported to Horn and Meyer. Horn will remain a consultant to the studio through the end of 2013.

All now report to Meyer, and they have essentially been told to work together for the overall good of the company. When Meyer departs at the end of 2013, they will each report to Bewkes.

Bewkes came up with a similar structure in 2007 at HBO when the pay cabler promoted three execs to co-president after Chris Albrecht resigned. Plepler and Kessler remain at HBO, but Akselrad has since departed.

Related Links

At Warner, shuffle at top is postponed (NYT)
Warner Bros.: Succession questions still linger (THR)
Warner Bros. sets exec succession plan (VAR)
Warner Bros. lays groundwork for succession (WSJ)