TW Shareholder Vote on Takeover by AT&T Feb. 15

Time Warner shareholders will vote Feb. 15 on the proposed $108.7 billion purchase by AT&T Feb. 15, TW CEO Jeff Bewkes said in an earnings call Wednesday, saying the regulatory process continues and the deal is expected to close later this year. He said HBO passed 2 million over-the-top subscribers in the U.S. and launched OTT offerings in Spain, Brazil and Argentina last year. Bewkes also said there will be a growing number of partnerships with OTT services that offer HBO. He said Turner is "an anchor tenant" on the various virtual multichannel video programming distributors that have been launched, and also will be on Hulu's upcoming service. Turner CEO John Martin said virtual MVPDs DirecTV Now, Sling and PlayStation Vue are gaining subscriber traction, having close to 2 million subscribers in aggregate. Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara said it sees big growth opportunities in China via a subscription VOD partnership with Tencent and the creation of local language content. He also said Warner is making "a lot of progress" on launching its own premium VOD offering, with a big driver being an alternative distribution route for middle-market films such as adult dramas that increasingly are challenged in standard theatrical releases. TW said it finished the year with revenue of $29.3 billion, up 4 percent, with growth in HBO, Turner and Warner Bros.