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.

Warner Bros. Discovery will split into two companies by next year, with much of its streaming and movie production moving under one company and its live sports and news to another, according to the Washington Post .

At the end of March, Warner Bros. Discovery had gross debt of $38.0 billion, which is comprised of “total debt” ($37.4 billion) and financial leases ($535 million). The 2022 merger of WarnerMedia (owned by AT&T) and Discovery, Inc. created more than $50 billion of debt.

EXCLUSIVE: Adam Galen has been promoted to Vice President of Development at Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, the division’s President Bill Damaschke announced on Tuesday. In his elevated role, Galen will work alongside Susan Akinbola to lead the studio’s feature development slate,