Warner Bros. Discovery is planning to split into two publicly-traded companies by next year, one company focused on film, streaming and content production and the other concentrating on traditional television, including cable TV properties CNN, Discovery and TNT Sports. The Streaming & Studios company will contain Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO, and HBO Max, as well as the film and television libraries. Global Networks will include CNN, TNT Sports in the U.S. as well as top free-to-air European channels, Bleacher Report and the Discovery+ streaming network.

“The separation is expected to be completed by mid-2026, subject to closing and other conditions, and the bulk of the current company’s debt — nearly $38 billion — will be assigned to the TV entity,” reports Variety.

David Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, will serve as President and CEO of Streaming & Studios. Gunnar Wiedenfels, CFO of Warner Bros. Discovery, will serve as President and CEO of Global Networks. Both will continue in their present roles at WBD until the separation.

The Global Networks group “will retain an up to 20 percent stake in WBD’s standalone streaming and studios business, helping to ‘enhance the deleveraging path for global networks,’ Wiedenfels said on an investor call,” according to Axios.

“At Global Networks, we will focus on further identifying innovative ways to work with distribution partners to create value for both linear and streaming viewers globally while maximizing our network assets and driving free cash flow,” Wiedenfels explained in the WBD news release.

“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,” said Zaslav.

CNBC called the move “the latest upheaval in the industry as consumers transition from cable to streaming,” adding that “in December, the company announced restructuring that many saw as a precursor to a full break.”

Variety observes that in dividing the company in two, WBD “is emulating a strategy recently put into place by rival Comcast,” which is splitting NBCUniversal “with plans to place the bulk of its cable networks in a new publicly-traded spinoff called Versant while keeping its broadcast and streaming assets under the better-known entity, NBC.”

Warner Bros. Discovery shares rose more than 2 percent on the news during midday trading Monday, per CNBC.