The return of “Warner Communications?”: Time Warner to spin off Time, Inc.

Mar 072013
 

Tiny Toon Adventures' Warners logosSome might recall the big merger between Warner Communications (owners of Warner Bros. studios) and Time, Inc. (publishers of “Time,” “Life,” and other magazines) back in the late 80s. After almost 25 years of “matrimony,” it looks like Time Warner is looking to spin off its Time, Inc. side, in the name of pushing its TV/video/motion picture side of things as future money-makers versus, well, print media like “Time.” Despite that Time wasn’t losing money, apparently the “print media is dead” meme, general corporate profit-mindedness, and a proposed previous sell-off deal falling through have prompted Time Warner’s decision.

There’s no indication what the now-Time-less Time Warner will rename the remaining company, if anything. I presume “Warner Communications” might be an option; it’s the name used between the early 70s and the late 80s for the Warner side of things. However, given media types aren’t particularly nostalgic/emphasize youth at extreme lengths (and that it’s been almost 25 years since they used “Warner Communications”), they’ll probably go for something more “2013.” “Warner?” “Warner Corporation?” Just plain “Warner Brothers, Inc.?”

On the comics and animation side of things, expect status quo. For animation fans, the animation studios, cable TV networks, and film libraries are all exclusively on the Turner and Warner Bros. side of the company. For DC Comics fans, it’s been under the Warner side of the company (and corporate cousins of Bugs Bunny) since Warner Communications’ predecessor “Kinney National Company” bought DC in 1967.

(Useless trivia: “Kinney” was a former cleaning services/parking garage company that for some reason expanded into media ownership. Warner Bros. until 1967 was run by the actual Warner siblings it was founded by/named after, though by 1967, only Jack L. Warner (the “J.L.” that Daffy Duck refers to in the Looney Tunes short “The Scarlet Pumpernickel”) was left. With the death of the old-school studio system, etc., Jack L. Warner sold the company to Seven Arts Productions in 1967, and retired a few years later. The merged company (briefly named “Warner Bros.-Seven Arts”) was bought by Kinney in 1969, and eventually renamed “Warner Communications” in 1972.)

Cartoon collectibles: Wakko Warner toy

Jul 122011
 

This week’s cartoon collectible is another oldie-but-goody, especially for “Animaniacs” fans: a Wakko Warner beanbag toy:

Wakko Warner toy (front)

I bought Wakko at the Warner Bros. Store back around 2000, when I lived in Indianapolis. It wasn’t long after that that the store (like the whole WB Store chain) shut down, which is a shame, as I liked the WB Store. Also available were beanbag toys of the other “Silver Age” (90s-era) Warner Bros. characters—Yakko, Dot, Pinky and the Brain, etc.—as well as classic characters like Superman, Batman, Bugs Bunny, etc. At the time, money was a bit tight, so I wasn’t able to buy Yakko or Dot.

Here’s some more pictures of Wakko:

Wakko Warner toy (back) Wakko Warner toy (left side) Wakko Warner toy (right side)

 

More Hollywood hijinks: Netflix to delay Warner Bros. DVDs by a month

Jan 072010
 
Warner Bros. and Netflix have reached an agreement of some sort: in exchange for more streaming-video access to its material, Netflix will delay releasing new Warner Bros. videos (DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and apparently even streaming video feeds) by 28 days, enabling Warner Bros. to supposedly boost its new DVD/Blu-ray sales:

Warner Bros props up decaying DVD market with Netflix pact

Um, yeah. Not sure how this will slow down file-sharing (if anything, imagine such a delay might help *increase* it) or encourage (force) more new DVD sales (the whole point of renting the DVD being that people *don’t* want to buy it…at least not right away). Just feels like another Hollywood cash-grab attempt, or an attempt to prop up falling DVD sales (never mind the recession, other competing entertainment formats, DVDs now being quite cheap, and everyone having already finished rebuying their old VHS stuff on DVD as possible reasons for lessened DVD sales).

Looney Tunes to return to Cartoon Network (not a hoax, dream or imaginary story)!

Nov 052009
 
After looking through online TV guide Zap2It.com, I’ve discovered that after several years’ absence from American TV airwaves, Looney Tunes is finally coming back to Cartoon Network. Not only are we getting a six-hour marathon of the shorts on Sunday, November 15 (from 1 PM to 7 PM EST), but they’re also being aired on a weekday morning slot from 11 AM to noon EST starting Monday, November 16.

I have no idea if this is permanent, or just a one-week affair. Still, the return of Bugs and company to TV is long overdue, and greatly welcomed (given I never cared much for “Tom and Jerry”, the sole old-time cartoon besides Scooby-Doo that’s still a fixture on non-digital cable TV). Perhaps somebody at Time-Warner is trying to build up excitement for the new Looney Tunes series being aired on TV next fall, or Turner and Warner Bros. have settled whatever money/rights squabbles they’ve had that prevented the shorts from airing (from what I’ve read online; what an idiotic way to run a conglomerate…), or maybe the ratings from airing the occasional LT compilation movie or the “Howl-oween Special” last week were better than expected.

Either way, good move, Cartoon Network—now if it could just get rid of those reality shows…