AT&T CEO: We have “all the elements of a modern media company”

With the acquisition of the Time Warner portfolio complete (despite a Department of Justice appeal), AT&T is becoming much more than a wireless provider. Factor in the DirecTV business, wireless subscriber base and broadband customers, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson this week said, “We’ve now assembled the key elements of a modern media company.”

Since the acquisition, Time Warner, which includes the Turner networks, CNN, HBO and significant professional and college sports broadcasts, has been renamed Warner Media. Stephenson said premium content is a key driver to tailoring high-value advertising.

“It all begins with owning a wide array of premium content,” he said. “There is nothing that drives customer engagement like high quality premium content. We have what we think are a terrific set of digital assets. But just owning content is no longer sufficient.”

With its total customer base, Stephenson said AT&T can directly reach 170 million consumers, as well as the data associated with their usage which “provides invaluable insights for new advertising models. And that’s exactly what’s behind our investment in ad technology.” He said data-based advertising on the DirecTV platform provides a 3x to 5x improvement in advertising yield.

AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan said he was excited for the combination with Warner Media which enables the company to pair “content with connectivity.” He highlighted 46,000 postpaid subscriber additions and 453,000 prepaid additions, and “near record low” postpaid churn of less than 1%.

Click here for a detailed look at AT&T’s second quarter financial. Here are the highlights: