HBO has succeeded for decades by producing a limited number of high-quality shows. But shortly after AT&T completed its purchase of Time Warner in June 2018, the new owner told HBO employees at a town hall-style meeting that the network wasn't making enough money. HBO needed more content to keep viewers' attention for hours every day and to get "more data and information" about customers, Stankey told HBO employees at that meeting. Stankey warned employees that they would face "a tough year," and they would need to do "a lot of work to alter and change direction a little bit."
