Move mirrors MSNBC’s corporate split as both left-leaning outlets face tumbling ratings and viewership
CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery announced Monday that it will split into two publicly traded companies, cutting CNN off from the more profitable streaming business as the left-leaning network grapples with plummeting ratings.
The restructuring will create one company focused on streaming and studio content—including HBO, Warner Bros. Pictures, and DC Studios—and a second company, WBD Global Networks, which will house CNN, TNT Sports, Discovery, and other cable channels. CEO David Zaslav will lead the streaming division, while CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels will head the networks group, Axios reported.
It is unknown how the split will affect CNN’s own streaming platform, which was announced last month three years after its catastrophic $300 million first attempt at streaming.
CNN’s finances and ratings have cratered in recent years. The liberal network’s revenue tanked around $400 million in three years, according to financial metrics revealed at a defamation trial in January. Primetime ratings have plunged 62 percent since 2020, while total-day viewership has dropped 58 percent overall and 71 percent among the key 25–54 demographic.
CNN isn’t the first left-wing network to face such a corporate split in recent months.
MSNBC parent company Comcast announced in November that it would spin off the network into a new entity, distancing its core business from MSNBC and other underperforming TV assets. Like CNN, MSNBC has suffered from declining ratings and mounting scrutiny over its partisan coverage. The network last month bled even more viewers after revamping its primetime lineup to include former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
President Donald Trump has long criticized CNN and MSNBC, accusing both networks of biased reporting and labeling them “fake news.”
