Within the past year, two of Hollywood’s largest media companies have spun their television divisions off from their studios to create independent, separate companies. First, in November 2024, Comcast announced that it was breaking out its cable and TV properties, MSNBC, CNBC, E!, Syfy, Golf Channel, Oxygen, and USA to create a new company, separate from the remaining NBCUniversal studio group.
Then in June 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery made a long-anticipated announcement that it would separate its “Global Network” group, including CNN, TNT Sports, and Discovery, from its “Streaming & Studios” division that would contains Warner Bros Television, Warner Bros Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO, and HBO Max, and its extensive film and television libraries.
The strategy behind these splits was so that the parent media companies could pursue opportunities to sell off these businesses as pure play assets, without being encumbered by the baggage of unrelated assets. This is the same rationale that led to Lions Gate Entertainment separating Lionsgate Studios from its Starz TV network.
Lionsgate had previously acquired Starz in 2016 for $4.4 billion, as a premium cable channel with over 30 million subscribers. However, Starz’s assets have diminished since that time, with Starz now having fewer than 20 million subscribers.
Soon after the separation had closed, reports emerged that the production company Legendary was considering an acquisition of Lionsgate, while there are rumors that Starz may be acquired by either Versant or Discovery. One might wonder if other media giants such as Disney and Paramount will follow suit in an attempt to manage their declining cable assets.
