Shares jump 13% after reorganizing statement

Follows path taken by Comcast's brand-new spin-off company

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Challenges seen in offering debt-laden direct TV networks

(New throughout, adds information, background, comments from market experts and analysts, updates share prices)

By Dawn Chmielewski, Deborah Mary Sophia and Aditya Soni

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery on Thursday chose to separate its declining cable television organizations such as CNN from streaming and studio operations such as Max, laying the foundation for a potential sale or spinoff of its TV business as more cable television customers cut the cord.

Shares of Warner jumped after the company said the new structure would be more deal friendly and it anticipated to finish the split by the middle of 2025. Warner shares closed at $12.49, up more than 15%.

Media business are considering options for fading cable television TV organizations, a long time golden goose where profits are eroding as countless consumers accept streaming video.

Comcast last month revealed strategies to divide the majority of its NBCUniversal cable television networks into a new public company. The brand-new company would be well capitalized and placed to acquire other cable networks if the industry combines, one source informed Reuters.

Bank of America research expert Jessica Reif Ehrlich wrote that Warner Bros Discovery's cable assets are a "very logical partner" for Comcast's brand-new spin-off business.

"We highly think there is capacity for fairly substantial synergies if WBD's linear networks were combined with Comcast SpinCo," composed Ehrlich, utilizing the industry term for traditional television.

"Further, we think WBD's standalone streaming and studio possessions would be an attractive takeover target."

Under the new structure for Warner Bros Discovery, the cable television business consisting of TNT, Animal Planet and CNN will be housed in a system called Global Linear Networks.

Streaming platforms Max and Discovery+ will be under a different division together with movie studios, consisting of Warner Bros Pictures and New Line Cinema.

The restructuring shows an inflection point for the media industry, as financial investments in streaming services such as Warner Bros Discovery's Max are finally settling.

"Streaming won as a behavior," said Jonathan Miller, primary executive of digital media financial investment business Integrated Media. "Now, it's winning as a service."

Brightcove CEO Marc DeBevoise stated Warner Bros Discovery's new business structure will differentiate growing studio and streaming properties from successful but diminishing cable television TV organization, providing a clearer financial investment image and most likely setting the stage for a sale or spin-off of the cable television unit.

The media veteran and consultant forecasted Paramount and others might take a comparable course.

CEO David Zaslav, a veteran deal-maker who led Discovery through its acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive before obtaining the even bigger target, AT&T's WarnerMedia, is placing the business for its next chess move, composed MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman.

"The concern is not whether more pieces will be moved around or knocked off the board, or if more consolidation will happen-- it is a matter of who is the buyer and who is the seller," composed Fishman.

Zaslav indicated that scenario throughout Warner Bros Discovery's investor call last month. He stated he anticipated President-elect Donald Trump's administration would be friendlier to deal-making, opening the door to media industry consolidation.

Zaslav had engaged in merger talks with Paramount late last year, though an offer never emerged, according to a regulatory filing last month.

Others injected a note of caution, keeping in mind Warner Bros Discovery carries $40.4 billion in debt.

"The structure change would make it simpler for WBD to offer off its direct TV networks," eMarketer analyst Ross Benes said, referring to the cable television TV organization. "However, finding a buyer will be challenging. The networks owe money and have no signs of growth."

In August, Warner Bros Discovery jotted down the worth of its TV properties by over $9 billion due to unpredictability around costs from cable and satellite suppliers and sports betting rights renewals.

Today, the media company revealed a multi-year deal increasing the general fees Comcast will pay to distribute Warner Bros Discovery's networks.

Warner Bros Discovery is wagering the Comcast contract, together with a deal reached this year with cable television and broadband provider Charter, will be a template for future negotiations with distributors. That could help stabilize prices for the domestic pay TV market. (Reporting by Deborah Sophia and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru, Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Arun Koyyur, Keith Weir and David Gregorio)