Just three years after they first merged, Warner Bros. Discovery is separating off into two different companies in an attempt to carve away the lucrative studio and streaming sections of the company from its struggling networks.
“The cultural significance of this great company and the impactful stories it has brought to life for more than a century have touched countless people all over the world. It’s a treasured legacy we will proudly continue in this next chapter of our celebrated history,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in a statement (via Variety). “By operating as two distinct and optimized companies in the future, we are empowering these iconic brands with the sharper focus and strategic flexibility they need to compete most effectively in today’s evolving media landscape.”
For those who love frequently reading news about unpopular industry decisions, Zaslav will continue to lead one of the two companies–neither of which have new names quite yet–primarily focused around WBD’s streaming and studio assets, including the Warner Bros. TV and movie studios (including the likes of DC Studios, and so on), HBO, and the newly-rechristened HBO Max, as well as the company’s video game and experience divisions. WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels will lead the new network company, which will include the myriad non-Warner TV brands and their associated streaming platforms, including CNN, Discovery (and Discovery+), TNT Sports, and Discovery’s international TV channels.
The move comes after much of the last three years were spent by the streaming side of things largely cannibalizing the struggling network side, and a series of broad cuts and controversial decisions to try and mitigate the losses caused there. Although the public-about face on decisions like re-renaming HBO’s streaming platform might have caused a good deal of mockery recently, Warner Bros has found some strong successes lately as it reverts back to focusing on the premium nature of brands like HBO with the successes of shows like The Last of Us, House of the Dragon, White Lotus, and The Pitt earlier this year, and ahead of the relaunch of the DC cinematic universe with James Gunn’s Superman next month, things are looking up at the box office as well.
Subject to closing, the split is expected to go through by the middle of 2026.
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