, made a rare appearance on the company’s quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts, addressing a major exec change and the strategy for facing a complicated operating environment.
Asked about reports of M&A overtures and whether he sees AMC Networks continuing to go it alone or merging with another company, Dolan said the priority for now is to make adjustments to enable AMC to make it as a stand-alone business. Down the road, he said, “It could be ‘stay the course,’ it could be M&A or a strategic transaction. We’re very much open to all of those ideas.
“Based on Kristin’s considerable operational and executive experience for 30-plus years working in media and entertainment, including her prior history managing subscription-based businesses, the board concluded she is the best candidate for the role.” He added that she has “a strong track record of driving institutional change.”“The current mechanisms for monetizing content are not working,” he said. “The content industry needs to reorg itself.
Shares in AMC Networks, which skidded to multi-year lows a few weeks ago, exploded on the company’s strong quarterly earnings report earlier today. As of mid-day, they were up 25% to around $26 a share, on nearly three times their normal trading volume.