The first of these two companies is tentatively dubbed "Streaming & Studios," though it will almost certainly maintain the Warner Bros. name. This company will comprise Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO and the streaming service HBO Max, along with these brands' existing film and television libraries.

Four years ago, David Zaslav clinched a debt-heavy deal to merge cable mainstay Discovery Inc. — which he’d run since 2006 — with what was then called WarnerMedia. The story he told investors was that the two entities’ diverse array of media assets “are better and more valuable together.” He doesn’t believe that anymore.

Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two separate publicly traded companies – one oriented around the HBO Max streaming service and Warner Bros. studio, and the other around CNN and other television networks.