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[ManaByte]

AT&T to spin off HBO, other WarnerMedia assets in a huge deal with Discovery. What went wrong?

The companies are expected to announce their proposed joint venture as early as Monday, creating a new company that would reshape Hollywood.

www.latimes.com

Three years ago, AT&T marched into Hollywood with big ambitions to be a 21st Century media colossus, connecting its booming cell phone business with legendary media properties — HBO, the Warner Bros. film and TV studio and Turner channels including cable news juggernaut CNN.

Now, the company is retreating from those plans.

Daunted by the challenges of competing in the streaming age and shackled by a mountain of debt, the Dallas telecommunications behemoth is poised to spin off its entertainment assets into a new venture with cable programming company Discovery, which owns HGTV, the Food Network and Animal Planet, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment.

The companies are expected to announce their proposed joint venture as early as Monday, these people said. Bloomberg News first reported that AT&T and Discovery were in advanced talks to merge the their entertainment properties.

 

[Xenon]

Reshaping Hollywood....

 

[AJUMP23]

Discovery + about to get dope amounts of content.

it is thought to pivot from data provider to content maker.

 

[bitbydeath]

Discovery got them Vikings bucks now.

 

[kittoo]

Never in a million worlds would I have thought that discovery had such deep pockets. I guess they do!

 

[bitbydeath]

Maybe they could find someone to finish off Game of Thrones? Also they should put Michael Hirst in charge of the DCEU.

 

[AJUMP23]

I hope I don't lose my free HBOMAX on my ATT cellphone plan.

 

[SF Kosmo]

Never in a million worlds would I have thought that discovery had such deep pockets. I guess they do!

No, I don't think this is a buyout, it's a merger, designed to spin out the media division into a separate company. It's corporate restructuring shit, probably not as big a deal as it seems.

 

[bitbydeath]

No, I don't think this is a buyout, it's a merger, designed to spin out the media division into a separate company. It's corporate restructuring shit, probably not as big a deal as it seems.

AT&T are effectively selling WarnerMedia to Discovery for 43 billion dollars, i'd consider it a buyout but maybe AT&T will get a bunch of stock out of it which leans into it also being considered as a 'merger'.

 

[sol_bad]

So AT&T realised they have no fucking idea what they are doing when it comes to the movie industry? Realised that releasing all their theatrical movies on HBO Max and theatrically at the same time was a dumb idea?

 

[KyoZz]

Well, I guess it's the perfect time to repost this:

 

[Bryank75]

AT&T are effectively selling WarnerMedia to Discovery for 43 billion dollars, i'd consider it a buyout but maybe AT&T will get a bunch of stock out of it which leans into it also being considered as a 'merger'.

That's not what is happening. Discovery wouldn't have cash to do that.

What is happening is AT&T are spinning off their media assets (most of them anyway) and merging with Discovery to form a new entity. This new entity will then pay AT&T in the form of a dividend.

AT&T will still be in massive debt despite this though...

 

[Hatemachine]

That's not what is happening. Discovery wouldn't have cash to do that.

What is happening is AT&T are spinning off their media assets (most of them anyway) and merging with Discovery to form a new entity. This new entity will then pay AT&T in the form of a dividend.

AT&T will still be in massive debt despite this though...

This is correct. The new company is owned something like 79% by ATT and the rest by Discovery.

 

[Bryank75]

This is correct. The new company is owned something like 79% by ATT and the rest by Discovery.

Yes and they get to elect 7 board members, while Discovery elect 6.

 

[LordCBH]

Well, I guess it's the perfect time to repost this:

If this gets the twats running dc movies fired, this will be a good thing.

 

[poppabk]

Well, I guess it's the perfect time to repost this:

The fact that this is a Marvel movie is an extra layer of irony.

 

[DeafTourette]

DC needs a Feige

 

[ManaByte]

DC needs a Feige

They just paid $500M for one.

 

[KyoZz]

DC needs a Feige

 

[QuantumZebra]

Discovery got them Vikings bucks now.

Yeah I had no idea Discovery was making money at all. They must be doing pretty well.