Earlier in the week, Warner Bros. Discovery announced its intention to split into two publicly traded companies through which it will separate its global networks from streaming and studio endeavors. The move is expected to be completed by the middle of 2026 and occurs a few months after the media conglomerate revealed a restructuring plan segmenting its business into enterprises focused on linear and streaming, respectively. John Skipper, the former president of ESPN and co-founder of Meadowlark Media, recently appeared on Pablo Torre Finds Out and discussed new spin companies entering the media business.

Skipper acknowledged that when he was running ESPN, it was bigger than the next two businesses – parks and studio – at The Walt Disney Company combined. David Samson, former president of the Miami Marlins and host of Nothing Personal, followed up by providing a hypothetical surrounding how spinning off ESPN could be conceptualized, equating it into franchising.

“Picture a business that has different franchise locations, and one of your franchise locations is not making money, but two of them are,” Samson hypothesized. “Do you want to take the money you make from the two locations that are profitable and support the one that is not profitable or do you just shut it down or do you spin it off so you don’t have to support it and let it stand on its own or die on its own?

“And that’s how franchisees think about life, and I am totally fine with I don’t want to take money that’s good money and throw it after bad money. Bad money is throwing money into a project that loses money no matter what you do.”

Samson outlined that Warner Bros. Discovery and other media companies are effectively creating two share prices, evincing different measuring sticks to evaluate overall success. After this process is completed, he averred that if one of the companies is struggling, it will ultimately result in the eradication of the business. Skipper concurred with his point, and from there, Torre talked about Versant potentially exploring sports rights.

There has been speculation about Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast Corporation deciding to work together surrounding TNT Sports. Gunnar Wiedenfels, the current chief financial officer of Warner Bros. Discovery, will become the chief executive officer of the global networks, granting him and his team jurisdiction over potentially licensing the programming. Mark Lazarus, the prospective chief executive officer of Versant, has mentioned his interest in the company entering sports deals that could “drive distribution, diversify ad sales and have a value.”

“My guess is taking those assets would give them more scale to continue to matter more,” Skipper said of NBC. “It actually might be slightly good for consumers. I know that generally when things are consolidated, but since now you have too many companies that people want, if they get all the sports they want, if you had less companies, you probably could be good for a consumer.”

Samson contextualized the situation by reflecting on Venu Sports, the proposed joint streaming venture between The Walt Disney Company, Fox Corporation and Warner Bros. Discovery that was ultimately discontinued a few months after a preliminary injunction over antitrust concerns impeded its launch. In the end, he feels that companies are betting that the world has moved past cable television and are putting their resources into streaming even if it results in consumers spending more money per month.

“I believe that’s what they’ve decided,” Skipper said earlier in the conversation. “You clearly burden the company. It’s not going to grow with more debt. They’re going to be engaged in layoffs, cost cuts, and that’s why there’s some discussion about maybe TNT Sports gets sold.”

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