Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly cutting 1,000 jobs as it faces calls to sell assets including CNN, which has struggled in the ratings.
The layoffs, which began earlier this month, affect the finance, business and production divisions, as well as streaming provider Max, the entertainment news site reported. deadline.
The cuts come at a turbulent time for David Zaslav’s entertainment company, which announced last week that CNN would cut 100 jobs as part of a major reorganization under new President Mark Thompson.
The company’s shares have plummeted 67% since the 2022 merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery, which combined CNN, HBO, TNT, TBS, Food Network and film studio Warner Bros. into one.
A leading analyst at Bank of America has urged Zaslav to consider strategic options, including potentially selling some of the bank’s assets.
“In our view, the current combined public company structure is not working,” analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich wrote in a client note on Tuesday.
“At current levels, we argue that exploring strategic options, such as asset sales, restructuring or a merger, would create greater shareholder value than the status quo.”
WBD faces financial headwinds from its traditional TV business, a weak advertising environment and last year’s Hollywood strike, and is in danger of losing its long-held NBA media rights to Amazon and NBC.
Analysts have presented several scenarios, including the separation of the linear channels, including CNN, which is estimated to be worth about $6 billion.
This could allow the streaming service and studio assets to grow as independent companies.
She also said other options could be a joint venture or merger with another streamer, such as Paramount+, or even a merger with a broadcast network.
The company has already partnered with Fox and Disney to launch a sports streaming joint venture, Venu Sports, this fall.
“While several of the financial assumptions behind the WarnerMedia-Discovery combination have not materialized, we still believe that several of WarnerMedia’s assets are best in class with significant unrealized value,” the analysts added.
Warner Bros. Discovery did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery were up more than 3% in midday trading on Wednesday.
Warner Bros. Discovery isn’t alone in layoffs: Paramount is expected to cut its budget by $500 million ahead of the completion of its acquisition by David Ellison’s Skydance.
Disney is expected to make further cuts in the coming months.
