View in b rowser September 17, 2019 | Hollywood Good morning. 🔔 AT&T chief Randall Stephenson will deliver the keynote address at Goldman Sachs' Communacopia conference this morning in New York. Live here at 8 a.m. ET. Join the Market. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Market Exclusive The HBO exodus isn't over Moving the Market: The HBO exodus that began after last year's AT&T-Time Warner acquisition will continue in the weeks ahead as more high-level staff head for the exits, either due to frustrations with WarnerMedia chief John Stankey or as a result of his effort to consolidate AT&T's new media businesses, several sources close to the organization tell me. • At least four senior-level staff are planning to leave HBO in the next few weeks, the sources said. Those employees (names withheld here out of respect) will vacate top positions in the company's legal, sales, human resources and data analytics departments. • Many of those senior staffers' deputies and direct reports plan to leave the company as well, the sources said. • They will join the more than 15 HBO executives, managers or producers that have left the company since the AT&T deal, including chief executive Richard Plepler, chief revenue officer Simon Sutton and head of global distribution Bernadette Aulestia. The exit interview: Many former and outgoing employees chafed at Stankey's effort to transform HBO from a premium content boutique — no longer seen by AT&T as a sustainable business — into the anchor for HBO Max, a mass-market streaming service, sources said. • While turnover is a natural outcome of consolidation, many sources are baffled that AT&T didn't work harder to retain staff with decades of experience and know-how, especially given the bellheads' inexperience in media and entertainment. • As one executive put it, AT&T may have bought the Golden State Warriors of media properties when it acquired HBO, but its inability to retain the top players means it risks ending up with little more than the name and the logo. The big picture: The HBO exodus comes as AT&T faces larger questions over its foray into Hollywood, with activist hedge fund Elliott Management publicly questioning the company's leadership and its acquisitions of DirecTV and Time Warner. • In a letter to AT&T's board last week, Elliott partner Jesse Cohn said AT&T's struggle with executive talent retention at those two companies "presents a real concern for investors." The exodus at HBO will only bolster that argument. What's next: WarnerMedia is planning to launch the HBO Max streaming service in April 2020. It will feature an impressive library of original content — especially now that AT&T has signed J.J. Abrams, albeit on questionable terms — but there are larger concerns about HBO's long-term competitiveness under AT&T. • Meanwhile, Elliott Management will continue its effort to oust Stankey and force a reassessment of AT&T's media investments. AT&T has indicated that the company will resist that effort. Win McNamee/Getty AT&T faces investor lawsuit Big with the Bellheads: AT&T investors have filed a lawsuit accusing Randall Stephenson and other executives of creating fake DirecTV Now accounts to boost subscriber numbers ahead of the Time Warner merger, Bloomberg's Chris Dolmetsch reports. • The lawsuit claims AT&T taught and encouraged employees across the country to secretly add DirecTV Now to customers' accounts without their knowledge. • AT&T says it plans "to fight these baseless claims in court," specifically the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York. The big picture: The lawsuit could not come at a more inopportune time, as AT&T is already facing scrutiny over its decision to acquire DirecTV in the first place. (See the item above). 🎞️ Parallel universe dept. 🎞️ The Everything Stream: In a new memoir, Netflix co-founder and first CEO Marc Randolph writes that Jeff Bezos almost bought Netflix for about $15 million. • "But for Reed, it wasn't enough." Rich Fury/Getty Ted Sarandos lands 'Seinfeld' Talk of Tinseltown: Netflix has landed global streaming rights to "Seinfeld," a significant victory for the streamer as it battles with Hollywood studios for rights to some of the most popular library content. • The deal with Sony Pictures will give Netflix the ability to stream all 180 episodes of "Seinfeld" in the U.S. and abroad for five years starting in 2021. The big picture, via LAT's Stephen Battaglio: "Landing 'Seinfeld' is a major comeback statement for Netflix, which recently lost the streaming rights to 'The Office' and 'Friends' to the media conglomerates" — NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia, respectively — "that own those shows." • "Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Netflix paid far more than the $500 million NBCUniversal paid for 'The Office,' and the $425 million WarnerMedia shelled out for 'Friends,' people familiar with the deal said." Worth it? Media analyst Matthew Ball says that while the cost is huge and the show has been available for years, "there are VERY few shows with its 'Hours' x 'Guaranteed Consumption' x 'Notability.'" Market Links • Ari Emanuel aims to raise $620 million in IPO (Variety) • Marc Andreessen sees his returns start to slip (Information) • Heather Dietrick cracks the digital subscription code (Digiday) • David Goodman wins re-election at Writers Guild (Variety) • President Trump targets Obama's Netflix deal (Deadline) Michael Kovac/Getty IAC's Tinder goes Hollywood The O.C. Game: Barry Diller's Tinder "has wrapped filming on its first television series, as owner Match Group Inc seeks to dive deeper into creating original content," Reuters' David Alire Garcia reports. • The big picture: "Offering original content is an increasingly popular strategy for the mostly U.S.-based technology and retail industries that have already attracted millions of devoted users." Bloomberg/Getty Joe Tsai hires David Levy Big in Brooklyn: Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai has hired former Turner president David Levy to serve as the team's chief executive officer, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports. • "Levy worked closely with the NBA in his capacity overseeing Turner Sports' television coverage and has a strong relationship with commissioner Adam Silver," Woj reports. • Levy left WarnerMedia in March after serving for six years as president and working at Turner for 33 years. The big picture: The Nets are shaping up to be the NBA's new tech-media powerhouse. Tsai is the co-founder of ecommerce giant Alibaba, Levy is a longtime media executive and Kevin Durant, the team's star, has become a noted tech investor. 🏀 What's next: J.R. Moehringer's excellent interview with Kevin Durant in the Journal, in case you missed it. See you tomorrow. Follow Dylan Byers Get the NBC News Mobile App Privacy Unsubscribe