Key Takeaways
- Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday announced plans to split into two separate companies.
- One company will be made up of the company’s studios and HBO Max streaming service, while the other will own its TV channels like CNN and TNT.
- The split is expected to be completed by the middle of next year.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is splitting into two separate companies, the media conglomerate announced on Monday, sending its shares higher.
The company will split into two separate public companies by the middle of next year. One company, Streaming & Studios, will include the Warner Bros. movie and TV studios along with the recently rebranded HBO Max streaming service, while Global Networks will be made up of WBD’s cable channels like TNT, CNN, and the Discovery+ streaming service.
WBD CEO David Zaslav, who recently had a nearly $52 million pay package rejected by shareholders, will serve as CEO of the Streaming & Studios segment, while CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels will take on the CEO role at Global Networks.
The split is expected to be completed by the middle of next year, the company said in a statement.
In December, the company announced that it would internally restructure its operations into a TV- focused and a movie- and streaming-focused segment, and said it was open to splitting up the company in the long term. A report last month that the split was likely going to be announced soon sent WBD shares up 5%.
Warner Bros. Discovery shares were up nearly 9% in premarket trading. They entered the day down about 7% since the start of the year.
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