The American media and entertainment company Warner Bros. Discovery will split into two publicly traded companies. The streaming and film studio activities will be separated from the TV network activities. The separation should be completed by mid-2026.
As a result of the change, streaming service HBO Max and news channel CNN, for example, will no longer fall under the same company.
The streaming and studio company will consist of the film studio activities and streaming service HBO Max. The TV network activities will fall under Global Networks, which includes the TV channels CNN, TNT Sports, and Discovery.
There had been speculation on Wall Street for some time that Warner Bros. Discovery was working on a split. Several media companies are struggling with the problem that their cable television offerings are yielding less and less. Streaming services, on the other hand, offer a lot of growth potential, although this requires substantial investments.
Rival Comcast previously took a similar path. The company split NBCUniversal into cable company Versant and a company with all other businesses. These include the NBC broadcast network, streaming service Peacock, and the Universal Studios theme parks.