Report: Warner Bros. Discovery Looking to Dump TNT, TBS, and More
Would anyone like to buy some worn-out cable channels? CNBC’s David Faber reports Warner Bros. Discovery is preparing to dump its cable portfolio in a spin-off company, just as Comcast did with the newly-named Versant.
How Would This Work?
It’s a common practice for media companies to lump all their underperforming assets together and either throw them into a new spin-off company or create a new spin-off company for the high-performing segment of the portfolio. For example, in 2014, Tribune split into Tribune Media (with all the profitable assets) and Tribune Publishing (with all the failing subsidiaries).
Warner Bros. Discovery would have to decide which of its channels it wants (if any) and which it wants to discard. Once it has its collection of oprhaned channels, those would be cut loose to fend for themselves. With decaying linear TV viewership, it’s likely the “SpinCo” would be sold off for parts.
WBD would certainly keep its movie and TV studio.
What Channels Does Warner Bros. Discovery Control?
The company has a giant portfolio of some of the most important TV channels.
- HBO
- CNN
- Cinemax
- HLN
- TBS
- TNT
- truTV
- Turner Classic Movies
- Discovery Channel (and Discovery en Español)
- Animal Planet
- American Heroes Channel
- Destination America
- Investigation Discovery (ID)
- Science Channel
- Discovery Life
- Oprah Winfrey Newtork (OWN)
- TLC
- Travel Channel
- Magnolia Network
- HGTV (and Hogar de HGTV)
- Food Network
- Cooking Channel
- Cartoon Network
- Boomerang
- Adult Swim
- Discovery Family (and Discovery Familia)
In all likelihood, Warner Bros. Discovery would want to keep HBO and CNN. TNT and TBS are top-15 channels according to Nielsen, but if WBD stripped the sports off those channels and put them on Max, they may be less valuable.
WBD could go crazy and axe all the channels, but Comcast decided it still wanted NBC and Bravo, so WBD will likely keep a handful of linear channels as well.
New ownership would mean new carriage negotiations. Fubo famously cut ties with all these channels because they were demanding too steep a price. A new owner may be more willing to cut a deal.
Is Discovery+ Doomed?
It was telling in today’s quarterly earnings call that Discovery+ was not mentioned. More than that, company leaders said “the streamer” (singular) when talking about their portfolio. That means they’re focused on Max as their long-term vehicle.
If WBD dumps its less popular channels, those are the ones that supply the reality TV junk to Discovery+. It wouldn’t make sense to operate Discovery+ if WBD no longer owned those channels, so he decision to continue Discovery+ would probably be up to the SpinCo.
Be sure to follow Streaming Smarter for updates to this story as they occur.
