Will Bewkes Throw In the Towel on Albrecht?

Will Time Warner president Jeff Bewkes stand by the man who made HBO a household word? That's the question raised by breaking news that Chris Albrecht, the C.E.O. and chairman of Home Box Office, was arrested Sunday for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend outside a Las Vegas hotel.

The Los Angeles Times reports that just after 3 a.m. Sunday Las Vegas police officers observed a physical confrontation between Albrecht and a woman identified only as his girlfriend in the valet parking area outside the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Hours before, Albrecht, 54, had watched Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeat Oscar de la Hoya in the World Boxing Council's super-welterweight fight -- which HBO had broadcast.

If Albrecht is found guilty of the misdemeanor charge, Bewkes --Time Warner's president and C.O.O. and the heir apparent to C.E.O. Richard D. Parsons -- will have a tough decision to make.

In his 22 years at HBO, Albrecht has led the premium pay-cable network to produce cutting-edge programming that has won critical acclaim (and huge revenues) for Time Warner.

But even as the final season of The Sopranos continues to win rave reviews, can Time Warner afford to back an executive whose mugshot is posted on TheSmokingGun.com?

by Amy Wallace

Photograph of Chris Albrecht by Kathy Willens/Associated Press