Could Warner Bros. Discovery be the latest media company to consider a spin-off? A report from CNBC posits that it’s likely in the cards in the coming weeks.
During Squawk on the Street on Thursday morning, David Faber posited that the company could likely see a spin-off similar to that of NBCUniversal and what was previously labeled “SpinCo” before being titled Versant earlier this week.
“Most likely — or almost definitely — it’s the linear cable networks, and then you have the studio coupled with Max,” said Faber. “How would you go about doing that? Remember, internally — and we reported on this previously — they’ve already done all of the reapportioning necessary. And I would note as well, in their earnings report, for the first time, they break out every segment in its own financials. That is usually a tell, right?”
Faber didn’t give concrete details on when a potential reveal could take place, but said that it could be longer than observers might think.
“We’ll see what we get in terms of a potential announcement from the split, what they actually look, what that actually looks like in terms of structure, and how they want to go about trying to accomplish it,” said Faber. “And then it will take quite some time to actually happen.”
Currently, Warner Bros. Discovery features a wide array of video products. It is the home of the Max streaming service, in addition to owning the DC Comics intellectual property with Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema also complementing its film assets.
Its cable television assets include brands like HBO, HGTV, CNN, Discovery, TBS, TNT, Food Network, TLC, Animal Planet, Headline News, and Cartoon Network, among dozens of others.
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