Warner Bros Discovery yesterday decided to separate its declining cable TV business from the streaming and studio operations, laying the groundwork for a potential sale or spinoff of its TV business as cord-cutting picks up pace, a Reuters report stated yesterday.
Media companies are considering options for their cable TV businesses as a large-scale shift by consumers toward streaming has slammed growth in traditional TV, which has long been the industry’s cash cow.
Comcast last month unveiled plans to split most of its NBCUniversal cable networks into a new public company, while Comedy Central owner Paramount Global had earlier this year agreed to merge with streaming-era upstart Skydance Media.
Under the new structure for Warner Bros Discovery, broadcast networks like TNT, Animal Planet and CNN will be housed in a unit called “Global Linear Networks”.
Streaming platforms Max and Discovery+ will be under a division along with film studios, including Warner Bros Pictures and New Line Cinema.
Warner Bros Discovery wrote down the value of its TV assets by over $9 billion in August due to uncertainty around fees from cable and satellite distributors and sports rights renewals.
The company’s gross debt was $40.7 billion as of Sept. 30. While its third-quarter cable TV subscriber base declined 9 percent, the streaming business grew by a better-than-expected 7.2 million users.
CEO David Zaslav said last month he expected the deal-making environment to improve under the incoming Trump administration. “That would provide real positive and accelerated impact on this industry that’s needed,” he had said.
Zaslav had engaged in merger talks with Paramount late last year, though a deal never materialized, according to a regulatory filing from last month.