Warner Bros. Discovery, The Parent Company of HBO Max, CNN and TNT, announced on Monday It would be divided into two companies in the middle of next year, the last decision of a great conglomerate in the media to count with a fracturing audience landscape.
The split will see a company House Warner’s Studios and streaming units, which include HBO Max, the DC Comics universe and the production and distribution of films. This group will be led by WBD CEO David Zaslav. The other will include WBD television networks, such as CNN and Discovery, and will be led by the financial director Gunnar Wiedenfels. This company will also assume most of the existing WBD debt.
“By operating as two distinct and optimized companies in the future, we empower these emblematic brands with the clearer concentration and the strategic flexibility they need to compete most effectively in today’s evolution media landscape,” Zaslav said in a press release.
This decision is likely to trigger a new wave of competitors and consolidation in the inherited television industry, which has been hammered by the reduction of cables which pass more to streaming and social video platforms like Tiktok.
WBD’s decision echoes Comcast announcement At the end of last year, declaring that it was Turn your wired networksIncluding CNBC, MSNBC, E!, Syfy, Golf Channel, United States and Oxygen. This new business should be called a slope. Comcast has Nbcuniversal, the parent company of NBC News.
The news confirms the previous reports which had indicated that WBD was heading for such separation, because Zaslav sought to reset the finances of the company. In December, the company Restructuring announced that many considered a precursor of a complete break.
Zaslav experienced a turbulent period at the top of the WBD, which was formed in 2022. In the months following the official launch of the conglomerate, he was already attacked by speculation that he pursued a sale. He also took a flak for the shelves almost finished film projects and ending Chris Licht’s mandate as CNN Chairman of CNN after only one year.
Wall Street struck WBD actions, which dropped by around 60% since Zaslav was appointed head of the company. Its stock jumped 11% during negotiations on Monday after the news of the next split.
In a recent note to customers, Bank of America analysts said WBD “did not work as an entity listed on the stock market” and that “processing changes” were probably necessary despite what they called the “enormous value” of the main properties of WBD media.
Zaslav, during a call with investors on Monday morning, said that the company would examine where to house WBD streaming sporting efforts, noting that they had not been a “driver” for their current house on HBO Max. WBD recently lost the rights of the NBA against Nbcuniversal and the main video of Amazon.
