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HBO Max just changed its name again, and it seems like its parent company will soon follow suit. (Again.) In a major and somewhat precedented move, Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that it’s splitting the company into two separate, publicly-traded entities. David Zaslav will continue to lead one of the new companies, dedicated to streaming and content production, while Gunnar Wiedenfels, the company’s current CFO, will head the other, focused on traditional television. The split is expected to be finalized by mid-2026, subject to closing and other conditions, Variety reports.
The split comes after months of financial woes for the company, which first merged back in 2022. Since then, it has dealt with major debt (that, unlike the Lannisters, it could not pay), hundreds of layoffs, an internal split between its streaming and linear TV divisions, and, infamously, a whole lot of bad press from its practice of disappearing completed projects for a tax write-off. Zaslav has been considering the divorce for nearly a year now, but stalled even as S&P downgraded the company’s credit rating to junk status last month. Now, this is what he has to say about it in a statement: “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.”
That evolving landscape also includes Comcast, which announced a similar split last year. That process is still ongoing, but eventually its broadcast, streaming, and a couple of cable channels will be housed under the NBC name, while the bulk of its cable networks will be traded under a new entity called Versant.
As of this writing, WBD’s new streaming company will retain Warner’s TV and movie studios, HBO, and HBO Max. The TV company, meanwhile, will handle Warner’s global TV networks, as well as all digital brands (i.e. Discovery+, Bleacher Report, and CNN’s streaming products) associated with those channels. Warner Bros. Discovery is dead; for the sake of its employees and the continually squandered legacy of the brand, long live whatever comes next.
