WBD Restructuring Shows What’s Old Is New Again

As Warner Bros. Discovery splits into two companies, it’s looking more and more like it did before the 2022 merger that created the current entity.

WBD advanced on its previously unveiled plans to divide itself, saying a company previously known as Streaming & Studios will be called Warner Bros., and it will continue to be led by president and CEO David Zaslav. A separate entity previously called Global Networks, containing the bulk of WBD’s sports and linear TV holdings, will be called Discovery Global. WBD chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels will lead Discovery Global as president and CEO, and TNT Sports chairman Luis Silberwasser will report to him.

The split remains on track to conclude in mid-2026, but the latest moves give additional definition to what will be two independent, publicly traded companies. The new names also bring the entities back in large part to where they were four years ago, when AT&T’s Warner Media and Discovery Communications merged to create WBD. 

The use of much of the prior company names stems in large part from their existing public recognition, and WBD in particular said the Discovery Global moniker recognizes “the affinity and value this name has around the world in entertainment, news, and sports.”

TNT Sports has been in the midst of remaking its rights portfolio, parting ways with live rights to the NBA beginning this fall, but acquiring many others, including in college football and tennis, and most recently, baseball’s Savannah Bananas. Discovery Global will carry much of the exposure to the ongoing decline of linear television compared to Warner Bros., as well as much of WBD’s existing debt of more than $37 billion. Also freed from larger corporate pressures, that entity, and TNT Sports more specifically, will have greater latitude to pursue other potential opportunities. 

“As we prepare for the launch of Discovery Global, our enthusiasm for the opportunities ahead only grows thanks to our leading portfolio of beloved brands and programming,” Wiedenfels said in a statement. 

The ongoing restructuring also arrives as the compensation plans for both Zaslav and Wiedenfels were restructured amid rising shareholder pressure.