4 months ago
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As AEW continues negotiations with WBD about the future of the promotion's programming on the Turner Networks, conflicting reports have come out about WBD's interest in the television industry entirely.
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First, The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer said on a recent "Wrestling Observer Radio" that WBD is looking to invest more in the television side of its business, despite the fact that the rest of the entertainment industry seems to be abandoning television for streaming.
"They have made this decision, 'our TV stations are making us money, our streaming service Max is losing lots and lots of money ... we're gonna invest in TV,'" Meltzer explained, saying that WBD is pulling funding from the Max streaming platform and investing it into the TV product. However, a different report claims WBD is actually considering making a move in the opposite direction.
According to the Financial Times, WBD is giving thought to split the company in two, with the television side taking on the massive debt held by the company's streaming platform. The idea behind the move would be to off-load Max's debt onto the profitable TV sector so that Max and the movie studios under WBD's ownership can appear more profitable as a separate entity, giving it "more flexibility to invest in growth." However, FT was careful to note that the notion is still in draft stages, and that people close to the situation say WBD CEO David Zaslav is "examining several strategic options."
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As a televised product, AEW would obviously benefit from the strategy Meltzer reported, though WBD's focus on streaming in the latter strategy would also be a benefit if WBD felt that the AEW product could help bolster Max. The news comes as WBD's initial hopes of merging with Paramount have deflated in the wake of the announcement of Paramount's merger with Skydance.
