NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. Discovery will calve off cable operations from its streaming service, creating two independent companies as the number of people “cutting the cord” brings with it a sustained upheaval in the entertainment industry.
HBO, and HBO Max, as well as Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, will become part of the streaming and studios company, Warner Bros. said Monday.
The cable company will include CNN, TNT Sports in the U.S., and Discovery, top free-to-air channels across Europe, and digital products such as the Discovery+ streaming service and Bleacher Report.
Shares jumped 11% at the opening bell.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav will become serve as CEO of the company that for right now is called Streaming & Studios. Gunnar Wiedenfels, chief financial officer of Warner Bros. Discovery, will be CEO of the cable-focused entity, for now known as Global Networks.
“By operating as two distinct and optimized companies in the future, we are empowering these iconic brands with the sharper focus and strategic flexibility they need to compete most effectively in today’s evolving media landscape," Zaslav said in a statement.
Just days ago Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders in a vote that was symbolic as it's nonbinding, rejected the 2024 pay packages of some executives, including Zaslav, who will make more than $51 million.
Warner Bros. Discovery said in December that it was implementing a restructuring plan in which Warner Bros. Discovery would become the parent company for two operating divisions, Global Linear Networks and Streaming & Studios. That was seen as a preview of the separation announced Monday.
Warner Bros. Discovery was created just three years ago when AT&T spun off WarnerMedia and it was merged with Discovery Communications in a $43 billion deal.
The cable industry has been under assault for years from streaming services like Disney, Netflix, Amazon and Warner Bros. own HBO Max. The industry is also being pressured by internet plans offered by mobile phone companies. Comcast, which is of nearly equal size to Charter, spun off many of its cable television networks in November, seeing so many customers swap out their cable TV subscriptions for streaming platforms.
Last month Charter Communications offered to acquire Cox Communications, a $34.5 billion merger that would combine two of the top three cable companies in the U.S.
So-called “cord cutting” has cost the industry millions of customers and left them searching for ways to successfully compete.
The Warner Bros. Discovery split is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. It still needs final approval from the Warner Bros. Discovery board.
FILE - The Discovery Communications logo atop its headquarters in Silver Spring, Md, July 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
FILE - Shaquille O'Neal, from left, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley speak at the NBA Awards on Monday, June 25, 2018, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
HELSINKI (AP) — Authorities are investigating damage to an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland early Wednesday that occurred between the capitals of Finland and Estonia.
Finnish authorities seized and inspected the vessel suspected to have caused the damage, the country's border guard said in a statement. Its anchor was lowered when it was discovered in Finland’s exclusive economic zone.
Helsinki police have opened an investigation into aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage and aggravated interference with telecommunications.
The cable belongs to Finnish telecommunications service provider Elisa and is considered to be critical underwater infrastructure. The damage occurred in Estonia's exclusive economic zone, police said.
The ship's crew of 14 — hailing from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan — was detained by Finnish authorities, local media reported. The ship, named the Fitburg, was flagged in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It had been traveling from Russia to Israel.
Finnish National Police Commissioner Ilkka Koskimäki told local media that investigators are not speculating on whether a state-level actor was behind the damage. Koskimäki also said the ship had been dragging its anchor for hours.
“Finland is prepared for security challenges of various kinds, and we respond to them as necessary,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb wrote on social platform X.
The undersea cables and pipelines that crisscross one of the busiest shipping lanes in Europe link Nordic, Baltic and central European countries. They promote trade and energy security and, in some cases, reduce dependence on Russian energy resources.
Earlier this year, Finnish authorities charged the captain and two senior officers of a Russia-linked vessel that damaged undersea cables between Finland and Estonia on Christmas Day in 2024.
The Finnish deputy prosecutor general said in a statement in August that charges of aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications were filed against the captain and first and second officers of the Eagle S oil tanker. Their names were not made public. The statement said they denied the allegations.
The Kremlin previously denied involvement in damaging the infrastructure, which provides power and communication for thousands of Europeans.
The Eagle S was flagged in the Cook Islands but had been described by Finnish customs officials and the European Union’s executive commission as part of Russia’s shadow fleet of fuel tankers. Those are aging vessels with obscure ownership, acquired to evade Western sanctions amid the war in Ukraine and operating without Western-regulated insurance.
For the West, such incidents are believed to be part of widespread sabotage attacks in Europe allegedly linked to Moscow following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Meanwhile, Estonian authorities are cooperating with the Finns to decide whether they should initiate a separate criminal case or move forward in a joint prosecution in the Elisa case. The telecom provider said its service was not affected by the damage.
Another undersea cable, owned by Swedish telecommunications service provider Arelion, was also damaged early Wednesday, according to Estonian officials. It was not immediately clear whether the Arelion cable's damage was linked to the Elisa's.
Martin Sjögren, an Arelion spokesperson, confirmed Wednesday's cable damage in the Gulf of Finland. He said another cable, this one between Sweden and Estonia in the Baltic Sea, was damaged on Tuesday.
“We are actively working with authorities in Sweden and other countries to investigate the cause of the cuts,” Sjögren said in an email. “We cannot disclose any details about exact times or locations at this point with regard to the ongoing investigation.”
Repair work is expected to begin as soon as poor weather conditions clear. He said the vast majority of the company's customers were unaffected by the damage.
The seized vessel Fitburg rests in the harbour in Kirkkonummi, Finland, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Roni Rekomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
From left, Gulf of Finland Coast Guard District Commander Mikko Simola, Chief of the Border Guard Markku Hassinen, Director of the National Bureau of Investigation Robin Lardot, Helsinki Deputy Police Commissioner Heikki Kopperoinen, Helsinki Police Department chief Jari Liukku and National Police Comissioner Ilkka Koskimaeki, attend a press conferance in Helsinki, Finland, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Kimmo Penttinen/Lehtikuva via AP)
