Warner Bros. Discovery—the media giant and broadcast partner of AEW—announced on Monday that it plans to divide its empire into two separate publicly traded companies by mid-2026, confirming long-standing rumors about a corporate shakeup.
Under this plan, one entity called Global Networks will house cable brands like TBS, TNT (AEW’s television home), Discovery, Discovery+, and Bleacher Report. This company will be led by Gunnar Wiedenfels, WBD’s current Chief Financial Officer.
The other entity, called Streaming & Studios, will control the WBD movie studios, DC Studios, WBD’s television production operations, HBO, and the soon-to-be-renamed HBO Max streaming platform—which currently carries AEW content and future pay-per-view events. This company will remain under the leadership of WBD President and CEO David Zaslav, who AEW President Tony Khan often references regarding their business partnership.
For AEW, this split is unlikely to have immediate effects. The company is still in the first year of its new WBD TV deal, which runs through 2027 with an option for 2028. The next major development in this relationship is the expected launch of AEW pay-per-views on Max in 2025. Whether this corporate restructuring will impact that timeline or cancel the plan altogether remains unknown.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
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