The streaming services business is about to get more crowded following the announcement that AT&T will spin off its WarnerMedia division (which includes HBO, CNN and many other media properties) and combine it with Discovery to create a standalone service that will compete with Neftlix and Disney+.

                By                    Vance Cariaga

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As the parent of major networks as well as Warner Bros., the studio behind powerhouse movie franchises like “Batman” and “Harry Potter,” AT&T has the kind of entertainment clout to be a huge player in the streaming space, The Guardian reported on Monday.

Other titles in its more than 200,000 hours of programming include “Friends,” “Game of Thrones,” “Succession,” “The Big Bang Theory” and Discovery’s lineup of nature, cooking and home improvement shows. AT&T purchased the media assets of Time Warner three years ago for about $85 billion.

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Under terms of the deal, AT&T will get $43 billion in cash and debt securities and take a 71% stake in the new business. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has been named chief executive of the new business. Combining the two units should fetch at least $3 billion in annual cost synergies, officials said, which will likely include job cuts.

The deal is expected to close in mid-2022, AOL reported. In a statement, AT&T said the new company will be able to produce more original content, provide customers with more innovation video experiences, and stoke investment in family friendly nonfiction shows – and so far, no show cancellations have been announced.

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