Warner Bros Discovery looking to split

Its streaming and studio businesses from its linear networks

Warner Bros Discovery wants to break off its streaming and studio businesses from its linear networks.

WBD CEO David Zaslav is weighing myriad options, from selling assets to separating the movie studio and Max streaming service into a new company, free from the group’s current near-$40 billion debt.

The notion of a WBD split could see debt stay with linear networks, while the growing OTT service could hit a higher valuation multiple and be given the potential to invest in its growth. WBD is among the major motion picture studios who’ve committed to launching expensive streaming services, with all the attendant technology headaches, content costs, talent issues and brand repositioning that entails.

Compounding problems are a declining ad market as well as the aftermath of Covid and last year’s double Hollywood strikes. Warners has had a sour summer at the box office with a string of flops including Furiosa, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter One and The Watchers. That said, they had a rich spring with Legendary’s Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

The Zaslav era of WBD has seen a tremendous amount of cuts and layoffs in an effort to pay down debt.
BCS Bureau