This week, in yet another step change in cable’s long, inexorable decline, David Zaslav divulged his long-considered plan to split the operation of Warner Bros. Discovery’s growth assets—streaming and studios—from its profitable but declining cable TV networks. The new structure, while not as aggressive as Brian Roberts’ landmark decision to spin off NBCU’s cable assets entirely, will position WBD to pursue “strategic opportunities” in the near future—which, of course, is a euphemism for dealmaking (which, in this case, is a euphemism for unloading assets that investors and management teams, alike, view as a burden on future growth). CNN, Turner, maybe even (but almost certainly not) HBO… all could soon be on the block. “This was a big For Sale sign,” one veteran media executive said. Wall Street, sensing the unlocking of shareholder value, sent WBD’s stock up 15 percent.
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