[8][9] The proposed merger was confirmed on June 12, 2018,[10] after AT&T won an antitrust lawsuit that the U.S. Justice Department filed in 2017 to attempt to block the acquisition,[11] and was completed two days later, when the company became a subsidiary of AT&T.

[14][15] On May 17, 2021, nearly three years after the acquisition, AT&T decided to leave the entertainment business by announcing that it had proposed to sell its ownership of WarnerMedia in a merger with Discovery, Inc. to form a new publicly traded company, Warner Bros.

[16][17] On February 10, 1972, the entertainment assets of the Kinney National Company were reincorporated as Warner Communications due to a financial scandal involving price fixing in its parking operations.

Time Warner Entertainment completed its purchase of Six Flags Theme Parks in 1993 after buying half of the company in 1991, saving it from financial trouble.

[38] Dick Parsons, already a director on the board since 1991, was hired as Time Warner Entertainment president in 1995, although the division operational heads continued to report directly to chairman and CEO Gerald Levin.

[39] In 1991, HBO and Cinemax became the first premium pay services to offer multiplexing to cable customers, with companion channels supplementing the main networks.

[42] In 1996, Warner Bros. spearheaded the introduction of the DVD, which gradually replaced VHS tapes as the standard format for home video in the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s.

[47] The deal, officially filed on February 11, 2000,[46][48] employed a merger structure in which each original company merged into a newly created entity.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cleared the deal on December 14, 2000,[49] and gave final approval on January 11, 2001; the company completed the merger later that day.

[53] An outburst by Vice-Chairman Ted Turner at a board meeting prompted Steve Case to contact each of the directors and push for CEO Gerald Levin's ouster.

Although Case's coup attempt was rebuffed by Parsons and several other directors, Levin became frustrated with being unable to "regain the rhythm" at the combined company and handed in his resignation in the fall of 2001, effective in May 2002.

AOL Chairman and CEO Barry Schuler was removed from his position and placed in charge of a new "content creation division", being replaced on an interim basis by Pittman, who was already serving as the sole COO after Parsons' promotion.

Both Logan and Bewkes, who had initially opposed the merger, were chosen because they were considered the most successful operational executives in the conglomerate and they would report to AOL Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons.

[54] AOL Time Warner Chairman Steve Case took on added prominence as the co-head of a new strategy committee of the board, making speeches to divisions on synergism and the promise of the Internet.

However, under pressure from institutional investor vice-president Gordon Crawford who lined up dissenters, Case stated in January 2003 that he would not stand for re-election as executive chairman in the upcoming annual meeting, making CEO Richard Parsons the chairman-elect.

In July 2003,[59] the company dropped the "AOL" from its name, and spun off Time-Life's ownership under the legal name Direct Holdings Americas, Inc.[60] On November 24, 2003, Time Warner announced they would sell the Warner Music Group, which hosted a variety of acts such as Madonna and Prince, to an investor group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Thomas H. Lee Partners, in order to cut its debt down to US $20 billion.

[76] In June 2012, Time Warner acquired Alloy Entertainment, a publisher and television studio whose works are aimed at teen girls and young women.

AT&T's competitor Comcast had previously acquired NBCUniversal in a similar bid to increase its media holdings, in concert with its ownership of television and internet providers.

[100][101][102][103] On November 20, 2017, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit over the acquisition; Delrahim stated that the deal would "greatly harm American consumers".

[111] In a brief filed by the Justice Department, it was argued that the decision to approve the acquisition ran "contrary to fundamental economic logic and the evidence".

[125] David Levy and HBO chief Richard Plepler stepped down as part of the reorganization, which was described by The Wall Street Journal as being intended to end "fiefdoms".

[128] In May 2019, Kevin Reilly signed a four-year extension of his contract with the company, which additionally made him president of TruTV (alongside the other three WarnerMedia Entertainment basic cable networks), and chief content officer of direct-to-consumer for the new streaming service.

[137] As a result of planned cost cutting programs, the sale of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment was proposed, but ultimately abandoned due to COVID-19 related growth in the Gaming industry, as well as a positive reception to upcoming DC Comics, Lego Star Wars, and Harry Potter titles from fans and critics.

The company's products have been the basis of various WarnerMedia streaming platforms, including AT&T TV Now and the Turner channels' apps, and would be used as part of international expansion of HBO Max.

[141][142] On May 16, 2021, it was reported that AT&T was in talks with Discovery, Inc.—which primarily operated television channels and platforms devoted to non-fiction and unscripted content—for it to merge with WarnerMedia, forming a publicly traded company that would be divided between its shareholders.

[144][145] Electronic Arts, who were a bidder in the proposed sale of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, purchased the mobile gaming studio Playdemic from WBIE for US$1.4 billion in June 2021.

[150][151] On January 5, 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS (now known as Paramount Global) were exploring a possible sale of either a majority stake or all of The CW, and that Nexstar Media Group was considered a leading bidder.

[152] The reports indicated that WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS could include a contractual commitment that would require any new owner to buy new programming from those companies, allowing them to reap some continual revenue through the network.

[153] The network's then-president and CEO Mark Pedowitz at the time confirmed talks of a potential sale in a memo to CW staffers, but added that "It's too early to speculate what might happen.

[165] On April 5, it was announced that Kilar; Ann Sarnoff, Chair and CEO of WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group; as well as Andy Forssell, executive vice president and general manager of HBO Max; were stepping down from their roles.