Warner Bros. Discovery plans split into two public businesses

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. said it will separate the company into two publicly traded businesses, splitting its streaming and studios business and its TV networks operations by the middle of next year. 

The streaming and studios company will include Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO, and HBO Max as well as the film and television libraries, and will be run by Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav, the company said in a statement on Monday. Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels will run the new Global Networks company, which will include entertainment, sports and news television brands including CNN. 

Warner Bros. said separately it will raise a bridge loan of $17.5 billion, which is expected to be recapitalized before the split. 

Warner Bros. recently completed a restructuring into two divisions to capitalize on the consumer’s shift away from traditional pay-TV to new online options. 

Comcast Corp. has already taken a similar path. It’s dividing NBCUniversal into Versant — which will own cable networks like MSNBC and USA — and the rest, including the NBC broadcast network, streaming service Peacock and the Universal Studios theme parks.