Kilar will report to John Stankey, President and Chief Operating Officer at telecoms company AT&T which owns Warner Media.
Media, entertainment and technology executive Jason Kilar has been named CEO of WarnerMedia, effective May 1. Previously, Kilar was the founding CEO of Hulu and SVP at Amazon. Kilar was CEO of Hulu from its start in 2007 until 2013.
He served in several leadership positions at Amazon from 1997 to 2006, including SVP of Worldwide Application Software. Also, Kilar was co-founder & CEO of video streaming service Vessel from 2013 to 2017.
Additionally, he served as a board member at DreamWorks Animation (2013-2016) and Univision Communications (2016-2020).
It comes at a time when WarnerMedia is preparing for a high-stakes push into streaming with the upcoming launch of HBO Max in May, which will see it compete directly with Netflix, Amazon and Disney.
Commenting on his new role, Kilar said: “In partnership with this world-class team, I’m so excited for the opportunity to lean into the future at WarnerMedia. Stories well told have always mattered, and they matter even more in this challenging time for the world. It will be a privilege to invent, create, and serve with so many talented people. May 1 can’t get here soon enough.”
Stankey remarked: “Jason is a dynamic executive with the right skill set to lead WarnerMedia into the future. His experience in media and entertainment, direct-to-consumer video streaming and advertising is the perfect fit for WarnerMedia, and I am excited to have him lead the next chapter of WarnerMedia’s storied success. Our team led by Bob Greenblatt, Ann Sarnoff, Gerhard Zeiler and Jeff Zucker has done an amazing job establishing our brands as leaders in the hearts and minds of consumers. Adding Jason to the talented WarnerMedia family as we launch HBO Max in May gives us the right management team to strategically position our leading portfolio of brands, world-class talent and a rich library of intellectual property for future growth.”
