By Dawn Chmielewski, Deborah Mary Sophia and Aditya Soni
(Reuters) -Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) on Thursday decided to separate its declining cable TV businesses such as CNN from streaming and studio operations such as Max, laying the groundwork for a potential sale or spinoff of its TV business as more cable subscribers cut the cord.
Shares of Warner jumped after the company said the new structure would be more deal friendly and it expected to complete the split by the middle of 2025. Warner shares closed at $12.49, up more than 15%.
Media companies are considering options for fading cable TV businesses, a longtime cash cow where revenues are eroding as millions of consumers embrace streaming video.
Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last month plans to split most of its NBCUniversal cable networks into a new public company. The new company would be well capitalized and positioned to acquire other cable networks if the industry consolidates, one source told Reuters.
Bank of America research analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich wrote that Warner Bros Discovery's cable television assets are a "very logical partner" for Comcast's new spin-off company.
"We strongly believe there is potential for fairly sizable synergies if WBD's linear networks were combined with Comcast SpinCo," wrote Ehrlich, using the industry term for traditional television.
"Further, we believe WBD's standalone streaming and studio assets would be an attractive takeover target."
Under the new structure for Warner Bros Discovery, the cable TV business including TNT, Animal Planet and CNN will be housed in a unit called Global Linear Networks.
Streaming platforms Max and Discovery+ will be under a separate division along with film studios, including Warner Bros Pictures and New Line Cinema.
The restructuring reflects an inflection point for the media industry, as investments in streaming services such as Warner Bros Discovery's Max are finally paying off.
"Streaming won as a behavior," said Jonathan Miller, chief executive of digital media investment company Integrated Media. "Now, it's winning as a business."
Brightcove CEO Marc DeBevoise said Warner Bros Discovery's new corporate structure will differentiate growing studio and streaming assets from profitable but shrinking cable TV business, giving a clearer investment picture and likely setting the stage for a sale or spin-off of the cable unit.
The media veteran and adviser predicted Paramount and others might take a similar path.
CEO David Zaslav, a veteran deal-maker who led Discovery through its acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive (NASDAQ:SNI) before acquiring the even larger target, AT&T (NYSE:T)'s WarnerMedia, is positioning the company for its next chess move, wrote MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman.
"The question is not whether more pieces will be moved around or knocked off the board, or if further consolidation will happen -- it is a matter of who is the buyer and who is the seller," wrote Fishman.
Zaslav signaled that scenario during Warner Bros Discovery's investor call last month. He said he anticipated President-elect Donald Trump's administration would be friendlier to deal-making, opening the door to media industry consolidation.
Zaslav had engaged in merger talks with Paramount late last year, though a deal never materialized, according to a regulatory filing last month.
Others injected a note of caution, noting Warner Bros Discovery carries $40.4 billion in debt.
"The structure change would make it easier for WBD to sell off its linear TV networks," eMarketer analyst Ross Benes said, referring to the cable TV business. "However, finding a buyer will be challenging. The networks are in debt and have no signs of growth."
In August, Warner Bros Discovery wrote down the value of its TV assets by over $9 billion due to uncertainty around fees from cable and satellite distributors and sports rights renewals.
This week, the media company announced a multi-year deal increasing the overall fees Comcast will pay to distribute Warner Bros Discovery's networks.
Warner Bros Discovery is betting the Comcast agreement, together with a deal reached this year with cable and broadband provider Charter, will be a template for future negotiations with distributors. That could help stabilize pricing for the domestic pay TV market.