• by Wayne Friedman , April 1, 2020

Former Hulu senior executive Jason Kilar has been named chief executive officer of AT&T’s WarnerMedia, succeeding John Stankey, who was promoted to president/chief operating officer of AT&T last year.

Stankey says Kilar will be key to the forthcoming HBO Max launch in May.

“[He] gives us the right management team to strategically position our leading portfolio of brands, world-class talent and rich library of intellectual property for future growth,” said Stankey in a release.

Stankey also credits HBO Max efforts to Bob Greenblatt, chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer; Ann Sarnoff, chair/chief executive officer of Warner Bros; Gerhard Zeiler, chief revenue officer of WarnerMedia; and Jeff Zucker, chairman of WarnerMedia News and Sports.

Previously, Kilar was chief executive officer of Hulu -- now entirely owned by Walt Disney -- from its start in 2007 until 2013. Before that he had senior positions at Amazon from 1997 through 2006.

Kilar was also co-founder/chief executive officer of Vessel, video streaming service Vessel from 2013 to 2017.

HBO Max will cost $14.99 per month at its launch. It enters a field of many new premium streaming video services, which include Disney+ and Apple TV+, launched last year, as well as the forthcoming Peacock, from NBC Universal.