• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Public Perception Misses Turner Broadcasting System's Big Picture, CEO Says

Posted on: Monday, 19 December 2005, 12:00 CST

By Scott Leith, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Dec. 17--Phil Kent, the chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting System, keeps a surprisingly low profile. He is rarely in the public eye, preferring to let business results do his talking.

But he's not shy about the one thing that needles him most, especially when he's in Atlanta: Few people, he says, seem to understand what his company really does.

"I just wish they could see the bigger picture," he says.

The problem Kent faces is that the smaller picture -- Turner's ownership of CNN and the Atlanta Braves -- often dominates the bigger one. That reality was underscored this week when news broke that Turner's parent, Time Warner, is looking to sell its tiny Turner South cable unit and, as part of that, the hometown baseball team.

Lost in the excitement were the lower-profile but higher-profit-generating Turner units such as TNT, TBS and the Cartoon Network. They are part of the ever-expanding Turner Entertainment Group, a 2,000-employee juggernaut in Midtown at the corner of Techwood Drive and 10th Street, across the street from Georgia Tech's basketball arena.

Occupying six buildings -- and soon to be seven -- the sprawling complex is home to studios where TNT's pro basketball coverage is anchored, where TBS produces "Dinner and a Movie," and where film expert Robert Osborne tapes introductions for Turner Classic Movies on a set meant to look like a posh New York apartment.

Mark Lazarus, who runs the entertainment operation, sometimes feels a bit anonymous, even as he oversees a giant complex that towers beside the Downtown Connector.

"People look at it from the highway and they're not sure what it is," Lazarus said.

Yet the place has become so crowded it needs to expand, as is happening right now. "We have people coming out of every closet and nook and cranny on campus," Lazarus said.

The fact is that what many Atlantans think Turner Broadcasting is doesn't jibe with reality.

For example, CNN is the most famous network within Turner, but the most watched ones -- and most important to the bottom line -- are TNT and TBS.

Cartoons, several of which are produced in Atlanta to run on the Cartoon Network, are hugely critical to Turner. In fact, Kent says, worldwide profits generated by the Cartoon Network match those of the venerable CNN.

"While CNN is the most important brand icon of the company," he says, "it is approximately a fifth or a quarter of our earnings."

The company also is a significant Atlanta employer. About 5,800 of Turner's 10,000 staffers labor here. Many, including executives like Kent, work at the CNN Center downtown.

CNN is based there, of course. Though many news and chat programs originate from elsewhere -- as do all the prime-time shows, plus "American Morning" -- the city is still where much of CNN's work is handled.

Of CNN's 4,000 or so staffers, 2,000 work in Atlanta.

In fact, selling the Braves and Turner South -- assuming such a thing happens -- wouldn't change Turner's employment footprint in Atlanta much. Turner South has fewer than 50 staffers. The Braves employ about 125 in Atlanta, or 250 overall, including farm teams.

Even so, this week's revelation of a possible sale of the Braves and Turner South, a regional cable network, quickly prompted questions about whether more changes might be ahead for Turner Broadcasting.

Experts, however, generally see Turner as a successful, important part of Time Warner.

Kagan Research, which tracks the media business, has found that Turner's networks churn out strong profits. Even little Turner Classic Movies rakes in cash and has robust margins.

Exact figures aren't publicly known because Turner Broadcasting keeps them under wraps. Its New York-based parent, Time Warner, which had $42 billion in revenues in 2004, breaks out results only by big divisions. Turner is lumped into a "networks" unit that also includes HBO.

Combined, the networks had $9.05 billion in revenue in 2004.

Some believe Turner and its entertainment operating cousins in Time Warner could constitute a strong stand-alone company. In fact, ex-board member Steve Case recently advocated a breakup of Time Warner.

"Time Warner Entertainment [Warner Bros., New Line, HBO and Turner Broadcasting] could build on its strength as one of the world's leading entertainment companies, and more vigorously embrace new technologies and new distribution channels," Case wrote in a piece for The Washington Post.

What seems highly unlikely is that any Turner properties will go on the block along with the Braves and Turner South, two dim spots in an otherwise bright business lineup.

"No way. We're doing great," Kent says. "I would be astonished."

-----

To see more of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ajc.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

TWX,

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

More News in this Category