Warner Bros Discovery to split TV and streaming businesses

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Warner Bros Discovery will split its business into two publicly traded companies, with one focused on its streaming and studios business and the other on its television network businesses, including CNN and Discovery.

The US media giant said the move would unlock value for shareholders as well as create opportunities for both businesses, breaking up a group created just three years ago from the merger of Warner Media and Discovery.

Warner Bros Discovery last year revealed its intent to split its business in two, a plan first reported by the Financial Times in July last year. The company intends to complete the split by the middle of next year.

The move comes on the heels of a similar move by rival Comcast, which last year announced plans to spin off its television networks, including CNBC and MSNBC, into a separate company.

US media giants are seeking to split their faster growing streaming businesses from their legacy television networks, which are facing the prospect of long-term decline as viewers turn away from traditional television.

Warner Bros Discovery shares were more than 10 per cent higher pre-market.

David Zaslav, chief executive of Warner Bros Discovery, will head the streaming and studios arm, while chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels will serve as president and chief executive of global networks. Both will continue in their present roles until the separation.

Zaslav said on Monday the split would result in a “sharper focus” and enhanced “strategic flexibility”, that would leave each company better placed to compete in “today’s evolving media landscape”.

Warner Bros Discovery chair Samuel A Di Piazza Jr said the move would “enhance shareholder value”.

The streaming and studios arm will consist of Warner Bros Television, Warner Bros Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO and HBO Max, as well as their film and television libraries. 

Global networks will include entertainment, sports and news television brands around the world, including CNN, TNT Sports in the US and Discovery.