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.

NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. Discovery will split into two public companies by next year, calving off cable operations from its streaming service as the number of people “cutting the cord” brings with it a sustained upheaval in the entertainment industry.