By Rodney Ho and Matt Kempner
Under AT&T's new restructuring plan for its media operations, Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting will disappear into the annals of history.
Turner will be splintered or absorbed into three newly created entities.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, said the overhaul is expected to lead to cost cutting and layoffs that will certainly impact Atlanta operations. It noted that Dallas-based AT&T is "currently saddled with about $170 billion in net debt, the most of any non-financial U.S. company."
Turner still has more than 6,000 employees in Atlanta centered mostly at CNN Center and the Techwood campus. Affiliate relations, operations and marketing departments are heavily represented locally. Turner Sports, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim largely operate out of Atlanta along with significant portions of CNN, CNN International and HLN, which recently centralized live programming back to CNN Center.
Top executives for Turner over the years have largely migrated to the entertainment power centers of Los Angeles and New York.