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88-468: In 1958, the park opened along Route 66 , now Interstate 35. It featured a haunted farm, a mine train, robberies, and jails. Initially, guests entered for free, but had to pay a quarter to watch the gunfight shows. It started out as Boomtown, a replica of an Oklahoma pioneer town that was built for the state's semicentennial celebration in 1957 at the Oklahoma State Fair grounds. Jimmy Burge,

176-454: A 1,000-gallon tipping water bucket and hundreds of water gadgets. In 2014, the park turned to Plainview, Texas -based Larson International for the new Winged Warrior ride and again in 2015 for the new Brain Drain, a seven-story looping thrill ride. Another new attraction was added in 2016 called The Gunslinger, a 60-foot-tall spinning thrill ride made by Italian ride manufacturer, Zamperla. It

264-718: A Marshall's office, saloon, bank, post office (with its own postmark ), fire department, hotel, and numerous storefronts. Attractions at the park included a train ride built by Arrow Dynamics , an authentic stagecoach ride, a donkey ride, and an indoor dark ride designed by Pearson, who later went on to work on Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri and Ghost Town in the Sky in Maggie Valley, North Carolina . The park reported attendance of over one million people each year, although because parking and admission were free, attendance

352-488: A board meeting prompted Steve Case to contact each of the directors and push for CEO Gerald Levin's ouster. Although Case's coup attempt was rebuffed by Parsons and several other directors, Levin became frustrated with being unable to "regain the rhythm" at the combined company and handed in his resignation in the fall of 2001, effective in May 2002. Although Co-COO Bob Pittman was the strongest supporter of Levin and largely seen as

440-608: A brief filed by the Justice Department, it was argued that the decision to approve the acquisition ran "contrary to fundamental economic logic and the evidence". On August 7, 2018, AT&T acquired the remaining controlling stake in Otter Media from the Chernin Group for an undisclosed amount. The company operated as a division of WarnerMedia. On August 29, 2018, Makan Delrahim told Recode that if

528-464: A government official the following day, with the latter criticizing the reports as being an effort to politicize the deal. Stephenson also disputed the relevance of CNN to the antitrust concerns surrounding the acquisition, as AT&T did not already own a national news channel. On November 20, 2017, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit over the acquisition; Delrahim stated that

616-494: A major corporate revamp that resulted in TBS, TNT and TruTV being brought back under the same umbrella as Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Boomerang and TCM, under a consolidation of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment's respective assets that formed the combined WarnerMedia Studios & Networks Group unit. Casey Bloys—who has been with WarnerMedia since 2004 (as director of development at HBO Independent Productions), and

704-504: A meeting between AT&T CEO Randall L. Stephenson and Makan Delrahim , assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division , indicated that AT&T had been recommended to divest DirecTV or Turner Broadcasting, seek alternative antitrust remedies, or abandon the acquisition. Some news outlets reported that AT&T had been ordered to specifically divest CNN, but these claims were denied by both Stephenson and

792-618: A merger structure in which each original company merged into a newly created entity. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cleared the deal on December 14, 2000, and gave final approval on January 11, 2001; the company completed the merger later that day. The deal was approved on the same day by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and had already been cleared by the European Commission (EC) on October 11, 2000. AOL Time Warner Inc. , as

880-485: A movie review aggregator. In June 2012, Time Warner acquired Alloy Entertainment , a publisher and television studio whose works are aimed at teen girls and young women. On August 6, 2012, Time Warner acquired Bleacher Report , a sports news website. The property was placed under the control of the Turner Sports division. On March 6, 2013, Time Warner intended to spin off its publishing division Time Inc. as

968-469: A part of the deal, the Six Flags prefix was removed from Elitch Gardens and Darien Lake. Frontier City and White Water Bay were never branded as Six Flags parks. PARC sold them to CNL Income Properties, Inc. and the two companies set up a long-term agreement in which CNL would lease the parks to PARC, which would operate them. In 2008, a new suspended roller coaster, Steel Lasso , was added to celebrate

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1056-525: A result of planned cost cutting programs, the sale of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment was proposed, but ultimately abandoned due to COVID-19 related growth in the Gaming industry, as well as a positive reception to upcoming DC Comics , Lego Star Wars , and Harry Potter titles from fans and critics. Crunchyroll was sold to Sony 's Funimation for US$ 1.175 billion in December 2020, with

1144-584: A separate, publicly traded company. The transaction was completed on June 6, 2014. In January 2014, Time Warner, Related Companies , and Oxford Properties Group announced that the then Time Warner intended to relocate the company's corporate headquarters and its New York City-based employees to 30 Hudson Yards in the Hudson Yards neighborhood in Chelsea, Manhattan , and has accordingly made an initial financial commitment. Time Warner sold its stake in

1232-403: A smaller company made up of Turner Broadcasting, Warner Bros. and HBO. On February 28, 2008, co-chairmen and co-CEOs of New Line Cinema Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne resigned from the 40-year-old movie studio in response to Jeffrey Bewkes' demand for cost-cutting measures at the studio, which he intended to dissolve into Warner Bros. In 2009, Time Warner spun out its Time Warner Cable division (it

1320-451: A television production company, for £100 million. Its distribution operation, Outright Distribution, was folded into Warner Bros. International Television Production. On August 26, 2010, Time Warner acquired Chilevisión . WarnerMedia already operated in the country with CNN Chile . In May 2011, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group acquired Flixster , a movie discovery application company. The acquisition also includes Rotten Tomatoes ,

1408-423: A wealthy businessman who owned a chain of laundries. Although Williams was initially interested in the park's linen rental contract, he was convinced by Burge's vision and became the principal investor. Together, they developed the park as a recreation of an 1880s Western town. Russell Pearson was credited as the architect responsible for building designs and general layouts. The four square blocks of streets contained

1496-614: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia ) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T . It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City . It was established as Time Warner in 1990, following a merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications. The company had film, television and cable operations. Its assets included WarnerMedia Studios & Networks (which consisted of

1584-654: Is now part of Charter Communications), and later AOL, as independent companies; AOL was later purchased by Verizon in 2015. In the first quarter of 2010, Time Warner purchased additional interests in HBO Latin America Group for $ 217 million, which resulted HBO owning 80% of the equity interests of HBO LAG. In 2010, HBO purchased the remainder of its partners' interests in HBO Europe (formerly HBO Central Europe) for $ 136 million, net of cash acquired. In August 2010, Time Warner agreed to acquire Shed Media,

1672-536: Is responsible for sales and distribution), while Turner gained access to Warner Bros.' post-1950 library, as well as other Warner Bros.-owned properties. The Turner deal also brought two separate film companies, New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment , both of which were integrated into Warner Bros. The Turner deal also gave Time Warner Entertainment access to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)'s pre-May 1986 library. Time Warner Entertainment completed its purchase of Six Flags Theme Parks in 1993 after buying half of

1760-548: The AT&;T SportsNet regional networks led by CNN president Jeff Zucker . Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, their respective production studios, as well as Turner Classic Movies and Otter Media would be moved directly under Warner Bros. Gerhard Zeiler moved from being president of Turner International to chief revenue officer of WarnerMedia, and would oversee the consolidated advertising and affiliation sales. David Levy and HBO chief Richard Plepler stepped down as part of

1848-593: The Columbus Circle building for $ 1.3 billion to Related and two wealth funds. The move would be completed in 2019. In June 2014, Rupert Murdoch made a bid for Time Warner at $ 85 per share in stock and cash ($ 80 billion total) which Time Warner's board of directors turned down in July. Time Warner's CNN unit would have been sold to ease antitrust issues of the purchase. On August 5, 2014, Murdoch withdrew his offer to purchase Time Warner. On October 20, 2016, it

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1936-629: The 1970s and 1980s. It also owned DC Comics and Mad magazine . The European publishing division, which produced magazines and comics, was known as Williams Publishing ; thanks to a prior acquisition (from Gilberton World-Wide Publications ), it had European-language branches in the United Kingdom, Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , the Netherlands, Norway , and Sweden . Most of these publishers were sold off around 1979. During its time as Warner Communications,

2024-635: The 2020 season, Six Flags suspended all operations across all their properties due to the COVID-19 pandemic . After over two months of the park operations being closed, Frontier City became the first park in the company to reopen on June 5, with new health and safety protocols. As of June 2020, Frontier City operations have resumed. Frontier City hosts concerts every summer at the Starlight Amphitheater. In 2018, Frontier City debuted "Fright Fest", which had previously been an annual event at

2112-481: The AOL division dropped significantly, not unlike the market valuation of similar independent internet companies that drastically fell, and forced a goodwill write-off , causing AOL Time Warner to report a loss of $ 99 billion in 2002 — at the time, the largest loss ever reported by a company. The total value of AOL stock subsequently went from $ 226 billion to about $ 20 billion. An outburst by Vice-Chairman Ted Turner at

2200-420: The AOL division for failing to meet expectations and dragging down the combined company. AOL Time Warner COO Pittman, who expected to have the divisions working closely towards convergence instead found heavy resistance from many division executives, who also criticized Pittman for adhering to optimistic growth targets for AOL Time Warner that were never met. Some of the attacks on Pittman were reported to come from

2288-469: The Department of Justice provided insufficient evidence that the proposed transaction would result in lessened competition. He also warned the government that attempting to obtain an appeal or stay on the ruling would be manifest unjust, as it would cause "certain irreparable harm to the defendants". On June 14, 2018, AT&T announced that it had closed the acquisition of Time Warner. Jeff Bewkes stepped down as CEO of Time Warner while retaining ties with

2376-460: The Opera House is called "Shake, Rattle, and Roll," which replaced the show "Industrial Movement" and revisited the music of the 1950s and 1960s. On May 22, 2018, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation announced that they had entered into a purchase agreement with Premier Parks to acquire the lease rights to operate the park, which would remain under EPR Properties ownership. Before the start of

2464-509: The Time Inc. acquisition and the lawsuit, and allowing the two companies to merge, which was completed on January 10, 1990. US West partnered with Time Warner Entertainment in 1993 to form what was later known as TW Telecom , initially known as Time Warner Communications (also utilized as the brand name for cable operation previously under the ATC name), in order to bring telephone via fiber to

2552-573: The Time Warner board on October 31, 2005. Jeff Bewkes , who eventually became CEO of Time Warner in 2008, described the 2001 merger with AOL as 'the biggest mistake in corporate history'. In 2005, Time Warner was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $ 250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush . On December 27, 2007, newly installed Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes discussed possible plans to spin off Time Warner Cable and sell off AOL and Time Inc. This would leave

2640-491: The Turner Broadcasting System. Its assets were dispersed across two new camps, WarnerMedia Entertainment and WarnerMedia News & Sports. WarnerMedia Entertainment would consist of HBO, TBS, TNT, TruTV, and the direct-to-consumer video service HBO Max. WarnerMedia News & Sports would have CNN Worldwide, Turner Sports (later known briefly as Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, and TNT Sports from 2023), and

2728-769: The WarnerMedia Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment assets into a new unit, WarnerMedia Studios & Networks Group. On May 17, 2021, nearly three years after the acquisition, AT&T decided to leave the entertainment business by announcing that it had proposed to sell its ownership of WarnerMedia in a merger with Discovery, Inc. to form a new publicly traded company, Warner Bros. Discovery . The deal closed on April 8, 2022. The company's previous assets included Time Inc., TW Telecom , AOL , Time Warner Cable , AOL Time Warner Book Group , and Warner Music Group ; these operations were either sold to others or spun off as independent companies. The company

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2816-533: The acquisition closing in August 2021. On December 21, 2020, WarnerMedia acquired You.i TV, an Ottawa , Ontario -based developer of tools for building cross-platform video streaming apps. The company's products have been the basis of various WarnerMedia streaming platforms, including AT&T TV Now and the Turner channels' apps, and would be used as part of international expansion of HBO Max. On May 16, 2021, it

2904-410: The acquisition, and was completed two days later, when the company became a subsidiary of AT&T. The company's final name was adopted a day later. Under AT&T, the company moved to launch a streaming service built around the company's content, known as HBO Max. WarnerMedia refolded Turner's entertainment-based networks under a singular umbrella unit on August 10, 2020, through a consolidation of

2992-618: The case. On October 10, 2018, WarnerMedia announced that it would launch an over-the-top streaming service in late 2019, featuring content from its entertainment brands. On December 14, 2018, Kevin Reilly, president of TNT and TBS, was promoted to chief content officer of all WarnerMedia digital and subscription activities, including HBO Max, reporting to both Turner's president David Levy and WarnerMedia's CEO John Stankey. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. unanimously upheld

3080-507: The chief financial officer. According to AOL President and COO Bob Pittman, the slow-moving Time Warner Entertainment would now take off at Internet speed, accelerated by AOL: "All you need to do is put a catalyst to [Time Warner Entertainment], and in a short period, you can alter the growth rate. The growth rate will be like an Internet company." The vision for Time Warner Entertainment's future seemed clear and straightforward; by tapping into AOL, Time Warner Entertainment would reach deep into

3168-530: The co-head of a new strategy committee of the board, making speeches to divisions on synergism and the promise of the Internet. However, under pressure from institutional investor vice-president Gordon Crawford who lined up dissenters, Case stated in January 2003 that he would not stand for re-election as executive chairman in the upcoming annual meeting, making CEO Richard Parsons the chairman-elect. In July 2003,

3256-569: The company as senior advisor of AT&T. John Stankey , who headed the AT&;T/Time Warner integration team, took over as CEO. On the next day, AT&T renamed the company as WarnerMedia (legally Warner Media, LLC). On July 12, 2018, the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal with the D.C. Circuit to reverse the District Court's approval. Although the Department of Justice reportedly contemplated requesting an injunction to stop

3344-499: The company dropped the "AOL" from its name, and spun off Time-Life 's ownership under the legal name Direct Holdings Americas, Inc. On November 24, 2003, Time Warner announced they would sell the Warner Music Group , which hosted a variety of acts such as Madonna and Prince , to an investor group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Thomas H. Lee Partners , in order to cut its debt down to US $ 20 billion. Case resigned from

3432-449: The company in 1991, saving it from financial trouble. The company was later sold to Oklahoma-based theme park operator Premier Parks under certain terms and conditions on April 1, 1998. Dick Parsons, already a director on the board since 1991, was hired as Time Warner Entertainment president in 1995, although the division operational heads continued to report directly to chairman and CEO Gerald Levin . In 1991, HBO and Cinemax became

3520-506: The company in 2003, relegating the name to a subdivision under Time Warner Cable. On October 10, 1996, Time Warner Entertainment acquired Turner Broadcasting System , which was established by Ted Turner in 1965. Not only did this result in the company re-entering the cable television industry as a national programmer, but Warner Bros. also regained the rights to their pre-1950 film library, which by then had been owned by Turner (the films are still technically held by Turner, but Warner Bros.

3608-421: The company made several further acquisitions. In 1979, Warner formed a joint venture with credit card company American Express called Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment . This company owned such cable channels as MTV , Nickelodeon , The Movie Channel , and VH1 (which was launched in 1985 on the channel space left by Turner 's Cable Music Channel ). Warner bought out American Express's half in 1984 and sold

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3696-526: The company was then called, was supposed to be a merger of equals with top executives from both sides. Gerald Levin , who had served as chairman and CEO of Time Warner Entertainment, was CEO of the new company. AOL co-founder Steve Case served as Executive Chairman of the board of directors, Robert W. Pittman (president and COO of AOL) and Dick Parsons (president of Time Warner) served as Co-Chief Operating Officers, and J. Michael Kelly (the CFO from AOL) became

3784-450: The deal from closing after the District Court's ruling, the department ultimately did not file the motion because WarnerMedia's operation as a separate group from the rest of AT&T would make the business relatively easy to unwind should the appeal be successful. The next day, however, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told CNBC that the appeal would not affect its plans to integrate WarnerMedia into AT&T, or services already launched. In

3872-449: The deal would "greatly harm American consumers". AT&T asserted that this suit was a "radical and inexplicable departure from decades of antitrust precedent". On December 22, 2017, the merger agreement deadline was extended to June 21, 2018, under a vote of confidence. On June 12, 2018, District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in favor of AT&T, thus allowing the acquisition to go ahead with no conditions or remedies. Leon argued that

3960-588: The deal, leaving the review to the Department of Justice (DOJ). On March 15, 2017, the merger was approved by the European Commission (EC). On August 22, 2017, the merger was approved by the Mexican Comisión Federal de Competencia . On September 5, 2017, the merger was approved by the Chilean Fiscalía Nacional Económica. In the wake of the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump , Time Warner's ownership of CNN

4048-598: The eleven-day run, the Oklahoma State Fair attracts close to one million people. The fairgrounds also holds horse shows and rodeos. The Fair was not held in 1917, 1918, 1945, and 2020. The fair was held for reasons of "morale" and patriotic and educational displays during WWII except 1945. Fair patrollers include security guards, the Oklahoma City Police and Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office. This article related to Oklahoma City

4136-511: The entertainment assets of Turner Broadcasting , HBO , and Cinemax as well as Warner Bros. , which itself consisted of the film, animation, television studios, the company's home entertainment division and Studio Distribution Services, its joint venture with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment , DC Comics , New Line Cinema , and, together with CBS Entertainment Group , a 50% interest in The CW ); WarnerMedia News & Sports (consisted of

4224-454: The expected synergies between AOL and other Time Warner Entertainment divisions never materialized, as most Time Warner Entertainment divisions were considered independent fiefs that rarely cooperated prior to the merger. A new incentive program that granted options based on the performance of AOL Time Warner, replacing the cash bonuses for the results of their own division, caused resentment among Time Warner Entertainment division heads who blamed

4312-484: The first premium pay services to offer multiplexing to cable customers, with companion channels supplementing the main networks. In 1993, HBO became the world's first digitally transmitted television service. In 1995, CNN introduced CNN.com which later became a leading destination for global digital news, both online and mobile. In 1996, Warner Bros. spearheaded the introduction of the DVD, which gradually replaced VHS tapes as

4400-478: The government were to win the appeal, AT&T would only sell Turner and if they lost the appeal then the February 2019 expiration of a consent decree AT&T reached with the Justice Department shortly before the deal closed would allow AT&T to do what they want with Turner. The appeal was expected to have zero impact on the integration. By September 2018, nine state Attorneys General sided with AT&T on

4488-427: The heir-apparent, Dick Parsons was instead chosen as CEO. Time Warner Entertainment CFO J. Michael Kelly was demoted to COO of the AOL division and replaced as CFO by Wayne Pace. AOL Chairman and CEO Barry Schuler was removed from his position and placed in charge of a new "content creation division", being replaced on an interim basis by Pittman, who was already serving as the sole COO after Parsons' promotion. Many of

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4576-453: The homes of tens of millions of new customers. AOL would use Time Warner Entertainment's high-speed cable lines to deliver to its subscribers Time Warner Entertainment's branded magazines, books, music, and movies. This would have created 130 million subscription relationships. However, the growth and profitability of the AOL division stalled due to advertising and loss of market share to the growth of high-speed broadband providers. The value of

4664-420: The land. However, the oil crunch slowed down the local real estate boom, and the startled company found itself with a sagging amusement park to operate. The president of the company realized Oklahoma City needed a local amusement park but also knew that throwing a few million dollars at the park was not going to be enough to solve its problems. In 1983, the owners hired a management company to operate it. Gary Story

4752-423: The leader of the committee that built Boomtown, decided to open an amusement park with the same theme. Rather than a traditional ribbon cutting, it was scheduled to have an old-fashioned six-shooter aimed at a piece of rope stretched across the stockade entrance. That is the same manner used today for its opening. It added spinning rides, roller coasters, and a log flume ride starting in the 1960s and 1970s. The park

4840-403: The lease termination. In 2011, it was announced that as the result of an agreement with owner CNL Lifestyle Properties , former Six Flags executives Kieran Burke and Gary Story would begin managing the properties as Premier Parks, LLC. In 2012, a new multi-million dollar water play structure was erected in a former parking lot. The area is called Wild West Water Works and features seven slides,

4928-410: The lower court's ruling in favor of AT&T on February 26, 2019, stating it did not believe the merger with Time Warner would have a negative impact on either consumers or competition. The Justice Department declined to appeal the decision further, thus allowing the consent decree to expire. On March 4, 2019, AT&T announced a major reorganization of its broadcasting assets to effectively break-up

5016-615: The management company, with Stephen Ball continuing to act as its general manager. For the 2017 season, the Wildcat received a complete train makeover with rebuilt cars. A new million dollar water ride was added to the Wild West Waterworks called the Gully Washer, which consists of three high-thrill water slides that will start from a tower approximately 66 feet tall. One of the new shows for the 2017 season performed in

5104-401: The masses. US West also took a 26% stake in the entertainment portion of the company, calling that division Time Warner Entertainment. US West's stake eventually passed to acquired cable company MediaOne , then to AT&T Broadband in 1999 when that company acquired MediaOne, then finally to Comcast in 2001 when that company bought the AT&T Broadband division. Comcast sold their stake in

5192-459: The merger, were chosen because they were considered the most successful operational executives in the conglomerate and they would report to AOL Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons. Logan, generally admired at Time Warner Entertainment and reviled by AOL for being a corporate timeserver who stressed incremental steady growth and not much of a risk-taker, moved to purge AOL of Pittman allies. AOL Time Warner Chairman Steve Case took on added prominence as

5280-441: The new company while Time Warner Entertainment shareholders owned only 45%, so in actual practice AOL had merged with Time Warner Entertainment, even though Time Warner Entertainment had far more assets and revenues. Time Warner Entertainment had been looking for a way to embrace the digital revolution, while AOL wanted to anchor its stock price with more tangible assets. The deal, officially filed on February 11, 2000, employed

5368-413: The new streaming service. On May 31, 2019, Otter Media was transferred from Warner Bros. to WarnerMedia Entertainment, and Otter's COO Andy Forssell became the executive vice president and general manager of the streaming service, while still reporting to Otter CEO Tony Goncalves — who would lead development. On July 9, 2019, it was announced that the new streaming service would be known as HBO Max , which

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5456-603: The newly created media and communications group, overseeing America Online, Time, Time Warner Cable, the AOL Time Warner Book Group, and the Interactive Video unit, relegating AOL to being just another division in the conglomerate. Bewkes became chairman of the entertainment and networks group, comprising HBO, Cinemax, New Line Cinema, The WB, TNT, Turner Networks, Warner Bros., and Warner Music Group. Both Logan and Bewkes, who had initially opposed

5544-475: The news and sports assets of Turner Broadcasting, including CNN , Turner Sports , and AT&T SportsNet ); WarnerMedia Sales & Distribution (consisted of digital media company Otter Media ); and WarnerMedia Direct (consisted of the HBO Max streaming service). Despite spinning off Time Inc. in 2014, the company retained the Time Warner name until 2018, when the company was renamed WarnerMedia after it

5632-614: The offices for his company and Frontier City staff in two surplus cabooses, purchased from the Frisco Railroad , and entertained dignitaries in the Susie Belle , the former Frisco President's Car, which had been declared surplus in 1958. Burge left Frontier City in 1961, and Williams followed in 1975. In the fall of 1981, the Tierco Group, a local real estate company, bought the park with plans to dismantle it and develop

5720-621: The park until 2007. After Six Flags sold the park in 2007, the event was named "FrightFest" without the space to avoid legal issues. In 2018, Frontier City debuted "Holiday in the Park," a Christmas event with lights and entertainment throughout the park. "Joe Galbraith, Frontier City's Kris Kringle, gives the park's four-seated sleigh a fresh coat of paint in preparation for a gale round of Christmas Holiday festivities" in November 17, 1959. The event added 27 operating days between November and January,

5808-470: The park's 50th anniversary. On November 24, 2010, CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc. announced that it had reached an agreement to terminate PARC's lease of the park and up to 17 other locations due to PARC defaulting on its contractual lease and loan obligations. The move came after, according to their 2010 SEC filings, PARC defaulted on their lease obligations on the properties. Five of the original six parks originally purchased from Six Flags are also involved in

5896-533: The print media in the Time, Inc. division under Don Logan . Furthermore, CEO Parsons' democratic style prevented Pittman from exercising authority over the "old-guard" division heads who resisted Pittman's synergy initiatives. Pittman resigned as AOL Time Warner COO after July 4, 2002, being reportedly burned out by the AOL special assignment and almost hospitalized, unhappy about the criticism from Time Warner executives, and seeing nowhere to move up in firm as Parsons

5984-584: The reorganization, which was described by The Wall Street Journal as being intended to end "fiefdoms". Turner Podcast Network, formed within Turner Content Distribution in 2017, became WarnerMedia Podcast Network by May 2019. In May 2019, Kevin Reilly signed a four-year extension of his contract with the company, which additionally made him president of TruTV (alongside the other three WarnerMedia Entertainment basic cable networks), and chief content officer of direct-to-consumer for

6072-449: The same umbrella as AT&T's telecommunication holdings, including satellite provider DirecTV . The deal faced criticism for the possibility that AT&T could use Time Warner content as leverage to discriminate against or limit access to the content by competing providers. On February 15, 2017, Time Warner shareholders approved the merger. On February 28, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai refused to review

6160-620: The second time for the park. Prior to Six Flags' re-acquisition of the park in May 2018, the event was to be named "A Frontier Christmas". The event did not return in the 2023 or 2024 seasons. Oklahoma State Fair The Oklahoma State Fair is a fair and exposition in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma. It takes place in mid-September each year, and along with the Tulsa State Fair it is one of two state fairs in Oklahoma. During

6248-586: The southeast corner of the park's property until 2006, when the company's offices were moved to New York City and Grand Prairie, Texas . On January 27, 2006, Six Flags put Frontier City and White Water Bay , Six Flags Magic Mountain , Elitch Gardens , Darien Lake , a couple of water parks, and Wild Waves/Enchanted Village for sale. At the same time, it also announced its plan to close its corporate offices in Oklahoma City and move to New York City and Grand Prairie, Texas . Mark Shapiro, Six Flags CEO at

6336-402: The standard format for home video in the late 1990s and early to mid-2000s. In 1999, HBO became the first national cable television network to broadcast a high–definition version of its channel. In January 2000, America Online (AOL) stated its intentions to purchase Time Warner Entertainment for $ 183 billion. Due to the larger market capitalization of AOL, their shareholders would own 55% of

6424-600: The time, said that he expected the parks to continue operating after the sale, but rumours surfaced that some of them could close. The announcement also created a lot of confusion in the Oklahoma City market. Many people misunderstood the announcement, instead thinking that Frontier City was shutting down and relocating to New York. On January 11, 2007, Six Flags opted to keep Magic Mountain but then announced that it would sell Frontier City and White Water Bay, along with Elitch Gardens, Darien Lake, Splashtown (near Houston ) and Wild Waves/Enchanted Village, to PARC 7F-Operations. As

6512-493: The two companies were to merge. During the summer of 1989, Paramount Communications (then Gulf+Western ) launched a $ 12.2 billion hostile bid to acquire Time Inc. in an attempt to end a stock-swap merger deal between Time Inc. and Warner Communications. Time Inc. raised its bid to $ 14.9 billion in cash and stock. Paramount responded by filing a lawsuit in a Delaware court to block the Time Warner merger. The court ruled twice in favor of Time Inc., forcing Paramount to drop both

6600-556: The venture a year later to the original iteration of Viacom , which renamed it MTV Networks (now known as Paramount Media Networks). In 1982, Warner purchased Popular Library from CBS Publications . By the mid to late 1980s, Warner began to face financial difficulties. From 1976 to 1984, Warner Communications owned Atari, Inc. , but suffered substantial losses due to the video game crash of 1983 , and had to spin them off in 1984. Taking advantage of Warner Communications' financial situation, Time Inc. announced on March 4, 1989, that

6688-408: Was acquired by AT&T. On October 22, 2016, AT&T officially announced that they intended on acquiring Time Warner for $ 85.4 billion (or $ 108.7 billion when including assumed Time Warner debt), valuing the company at $ 107.50 per share. The proposed merger was confirmed on June 12, 2018, after AT&T won an antitrust lawsuit that the U.S. Justice Department filed in 2017 to attempt to block

6776-450: Was considered a potential source of scrutiny for the deal, as Trump had repeatedly criticized the network for how it covered his administration , and stated during his campaign that he planned to block the acquisition because of the potential impact of the resulting consolidation. Following his election, however, his transition team stated that the government planned to evaluate the deal without prejudice. On November 8, 2017, reports of

6864-489: Was determined by Burge from the number of train tickets sold, which could have counted the same people multiple times each day. It was famous for its live entertainment, including staged gunfights, Indian dancing, saloon shows, train robberies, and other similar types of Western experiences. The park made money by leasing concessions, and the concessionaires set their own prices; Burge recounted in 1988 that visitors "could walk around free unless [they] got thirsty". Williams set up

6952-423: Was eventually elevated to President of Programming at HBO and Cinemax in May 2016—added oversight of WarnerMedia's basic cable networks and HBO Max to his purview. In October 2020, it was announced that the company was planning to execute over a 1,000 job cuts in order to reduce costs. WarnerMedia plans to reduce costs by at least 20% in order to deal with the profit shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic . As

7040-404: Was firmly entrenched as CEO. Pittman's departure was seen as a great victory to Time Warner executives who wanted to undo the merger. In a sign of AOL's diminishing importance to the media conglomerate, Pittman's responsibilities were divided between two Time Warner Entertainment veterans; Jeffrey Bewkes who was CEO of Home Box Office, and Don Logan who had been CEO of Time. Logan became chairman of

7128-499: Was later appointed to lead the Oklahoma Semi-Centennial Committee, which was planning the 1957 Oklahoma Semi-Centennial Exposition in Oklahoma City. After the 1957 Exposition was over, he negotiated with the fair board to purchase many of the buildings and props at the "Boom Town" exhibit. Burge laid out the land and facilities with four initial investors, then entered a partnership with Jack Williams,

7216-518: Was launched on May 27, 2020. In September 2019, Stankey was promoted to AT&T president and chief operating officer. By April 1, 2020, former Hulu chief Jason Kilar took over as WarnerMedia CEO. In August 2020, the company had a significant restructuring laying off around 800 employees including around 600 from Warner and 150+ from HBO. At WarnerMedia's Atlanta base, marketing and cable operations teams were particularly affected. On August 10, 2020, WarnerMedia restructured several of its units in

7304-542: Was named the general manager in 1984. In 1987, the contract with the management company was not renewed, but the management staff went to work directly for the park owners, Frontier City Properties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tierco Group, Inc. In 1995, The Tierco Group, Inc. changed its name to Premier Parks . On February 9, 1998, it was announced that Premier Parks would purchase the Six Flags chain from Time Warner for $ 1.9 billion and change its name to Six Flags, Inc. The world headquarters for Six Flags were located at

7392-538: Was originally owned and operated by Oklahoma City businessmen James Burge and Jack Williams. James Burge had been a publicist in Hollywood for twenty years, with clients that included Joan Crawford and Robert Taylor . He visited Disneyland when it opened in 1955 and was impressed with the theme park business. Being from Oklahoma City, he knew his hometown would be a natural location for a western-themed amusement park. After World War II, he returned to Oklahoma City and

7480-544: Was ranked No. 98 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. On February 10, 1972, the entertainment assets of the Kinney National Company were reincorporated as Warner Communications due to a financial scandal involving price fixing in its parking operations. Warner Communications served as the parent company for Warner Bros. Pictures , the Warner Music Group (WMG), Warner Books and Warner Cable during

7568-471: Was relocated from Magic Spring in Hot Springs, Arkansas , a park also owned by CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc. 2016 also celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Wildcat. Much of the ride was re-tracked in 2016 to make for a smoother ride. After the 2016 season the park was again sold, this time to EPR Properties which was operating it under the name Frontier City Holdings LLC. Premier Parks continued as

7656-477: Was reported that AT&T was in talks to acquire Time Warner. The proposed deal would give AT&T significant holdings in the media industry. AT&T's competitor Comcast had previously acquired NBCUniversal in a similar bid to increase its media holdings, in concert with its ownership of television and internet providers. On October 22, 2016, AT&T reached a deal to buy Time Warner for $ 85.4 billion. The merger would bring Time Warner's properties under

7744-449: Was reported that AT&T was in talks with Discovery, Inc. —which primarily operated television channels and platforms devoted to non-fiction and unscripted content—for it to merge with WarnerMedia, forming a publicly traded company that would be divided between its shareholders. The proposed spin-off and merger was officially announced the next day, which is to be structured as a Reverse Morris Trust . AT&T shareholders would receive

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