Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (WBD) operates as a global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes a differentiated and comprehensive portfolio of content and products across television, film, streaming, interactive gaming, publishing, themed experiences, and consumer products through brands including: Discovery Channel, Max, CNN, DC Studios, TNT Sports, HBO, Food Network, TLC, TBS, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Games, Adult Swim,...
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (WBD) operates as a global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes a differentiated and comprehensive portfolio of content and products across television, film, streaming, interactive gaming, publishing, themed experiences, and consumer products through brands including: Discovery Channel, Max, CNN, DC Studios, TNT Sports, HBO, Food Network, TLC, TBS, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Games, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, and others.
The company is home to one of the largest collections of owned content in the world with assets and intellectual property across sports, news, lifestyle, and entertainment in most languages and regions of the globe. The company creates some of the best-in-class content using its renowned library, beloved franchises, and acclaimed creative expertise to serve the company’s audiences and consumers.
The company’s asset mix strongly positions it to execute the company’s key strategies: grow the company’s direct-to-consumer (‘DTC’) business globally, enhance its studios segment, and manage the company’s linear networks for the best possible success in order to create long-term value for its shareholders.
The company generates revenue from fees charged to distributors that carry its network brands and programming, including cable, direct-to-home (‘DTH’) satellite, telecommunication and digital service providers, as well as through DTC subscription services (distribution revenue); the sale of advertising on the company’s networks and digital platforms (advertising revenue); the release of feature films for initial exhibition in theaters, the licensing of feature films and television programs to various television, subscription video on demand (‘SVOD’) and other digital markets, distribution of feature films and television programs in the physical and digital home entertainment markets, sales of console games and mobile in-game content, sublicensing of sports rights, and licensing of intellectual property such as characters and brands (content revenue); and other sources such as studio tours and production services (other revenue).
Segments
The company operates through three segments: Studios, Network, and DTC.
Studios
The company’s Studios segment primarily consists of the production and release of feature films for initial exhibition in theaters, production and initial licensing of television programs to its networks/DTC services, as well as third parties, distribution of the company’s films and television programs to various third party and internal television and streaming services, distribution through the home entertainment market (physical and digital), related consumer products and themed experience licensing, and interactive gaming.
WBD’s Studios business includes the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group (‘WBMPG’), DC Studios, Warner Bros. Television Group (‘WBTVG’), Consumer Products, Themed Entertainment and Brand Licensing, DC Comics Publishing, Content Licensing, Home Entertainment, Studio Operations, and Interactive Gaming.
WBMPG is consists of Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, and Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. WBMPG partners with captivating storytellers to create filmed entertainment for a global audience.
WBTVG consists of Warner Bros. Television, the company’s flagship television production unit for live-action scripted programming, as well as Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, which produces unscripted and alternative programming through its four production units – Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, Telepictures, Warner Bros. International Television Production, and Shed Media. WBTVG also includes Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe.
Beyond its production operations, the Studios segment includes various businesses that facilitate consumer interaction with the intellectual property it creates.
Global Consumer Products, Themed Entertainment and Brand Licensing, and world-renowned comic and publishing powerhouse DC Comics, all drive opportunities for consumers to engage with WBD’s leading entertainment brands and franchises.
Global distribution of most of WBD’s content is handled by Content Sales, which provides content for viewers across streaming, cable, satellite and broadcast networks, local television stations, and airlines. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment oversees the global distribution of content through physical goods (Blu-ray Disc and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online, and mobile channels.
The Studios segment also includes Warner Bros. Games, a worldwide publisher, developer, licensor, and distributor of content for the interactive space across all platforms, including console, handheld, mobile, and PC-based gaming for both internal and third-party game titles.
In September 2024, WBD announced a new global structure for the company’s worldwide studio tours, retail destinations, touring exhibitions, and all location-based experiences. WBD Global Experiences brings together the previous Global Themed Entertainment licensing group and the Studio Tours & Retail owned and operated group into a single worldwide division to develop and execute on global strategies that offer partners a mix of both group models, putting WBD in a position to drive growth and become a worldwide leader in the creation, development, licensing, and operation of location-based entertainment inspired by Harry Potter, DC, Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, Game of Thrones, Friends, Discovery and more.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, content and other revenues were 92% and 8%, respectively, of total revenues for this segment.
Networks
The company’s Networks segment primarily consists of its domestic and international television networks.
WBD’s linear network operations include general entertainment, lifestyle, and news networks in the U.S., as well as a host of international media networks and global sports networks.
General and lifestyle entertainment networks in the U.S. include TNT, TBS, Turner Classic Movies, OWN, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Discovery Channel and Adult Swim, among many others.
In 2024, CNN, the company’s global news brand, launched CNN International in Europe on Max, giving audiences the ability to access a combination of on-air CNN content and exclusive programming on WBD’s streaming service in Spain, Nordics, Belgium, Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe.
TNT Sports is a global leader in the delivery of premium sports content. The TNT Sports U.S. portfolio includes expansive, multi-platform partnerships with the National Basketball Association (“NBA”), Major League Baseball, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, National Hockey League, United States Soccer Federation, Unrivaled, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Roland-Garros, NCAA Big 12 Football and Men’s Basketball, and NCAA Big East Men’s and Women’s Basketball. Additionally, TNT Sports co-manages NCAA.com and NCAA March Madness Live, along with NBA Digital including NBA TV, the NBA App and NBA.com. Bleacher Report and House of Highlights, digital destinations for young adult sports fans, are owned and operated by TNT Sports. In March 2024, TNT Sports also premiered a primetime sports programming block on truTV consisting of live sports, original sports shows, and ancillary sports content.
TNT Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland includes live coverage of Australian Open and Roland-Garros tennis; Grand Tour cycling; the Union Cycliste Internationale Mountain Bike World Series; World Championship and World Cup winter sports events; British and World Superbikes; snooker; Olympic Games 2026-2032; Premier League; Union of European Football Associations club football; Premiership men’s and women’s rugby; MotoGP; international cricket; Ultimate Fighting Championship and boxing, which are all available on TNT Sports and its streaming home, discovery+.
TNT Sports’ owned-and-operated platforms include Bleacher Report, Eurosport.com, House of Highlights, Golf Digest, and a full suite of digital and social brands.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, distribution, advertising, content, and other revenues were 53%, 36%, 9%, and 2%, respectively, of total revenues for this segment.
DTC
WBD’s DTC business includes the company’s streaming services, such as Max and discovery+, and premium pay-TV services, such as HBO. The company’s streaming services are available on most mobile and connected TV devices. In 2025 and 2026, the company anticipates additional launches of the company’s streaming services in major markets.
HBO is one of the most respected and innovative entertainment brands in the world, serving iconic, award-winning programming through the HBO linear channels and the company’s DTC streaming service, Max. In 2024, HBO’s crime drama The Penguin earned positive reviews and grew its premiere-night audience by 54% from debut to finale. The Penguin also earned Colin Farrell a Golden Globe Award in the category for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television. Another standout was True Detective: Night Country, which became the series’ most watched season, receiving 19 Emmy nominations and one win for Jodie Foster’s performance. New HBO series highlights include Dune: Prophecy and Like Water for Chocolate, both of which have already been renewed for a second season. Other hit HBO series that returned to critical acclaim in 2024 included House of the Dragon and Hacks, a Golden Globe winner for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy.
Max is a streaming destination for a variety of programming including HBO Originals, Warner Bros. films, Max Originals, the DC universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, CNN, and programming across food, home, reality, lifestyle, and documentaries from leading brands like HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Channel, and more. The company’s strategy to grow its DTC business globally delivered success in 2024 with the launch of Max in 73 new markets across Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia and the addition of 19.3 million global subscribers to the company’s DTC products.
In 2025, the company’s content pipeline for HBO and Max includes the highly anticipated returns of The White Lotus, The Last of Us, Hacks, ...And Just Like That, Peacemaker, and The Gilded Age, as well as the series premieres of It: Welcome to Derry and The Eastern Gate.
discovery+ is WBD’s non-fiction, real-life subscription-based streaming service. discovery+ features a wide range of series across popular passion verticals, including lifestyle and relationships; home and food; true crime; paranormal; adventure and natural history; science, tech, and the environment; and a slate of high-quality documentaries. discovery+ highlights for 2024 included the premiere of Quiet on Set and the return of the Curious Case of Natalia Grace.
Max and discovery+ feature both ad-free and ad-lite versions in most markets.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, distribution, advertising, and content revenues were 87%, 8%, and 4%, respectively, of total revenues for this segment.
Regulatory Matters
The company’s businesses are subject to and affected by regulations of the U.S. federal, state and local government authorities, and its international operations are subject to laws and regulations of the countries and international bodies, such as the E.U., in which the company operates. Content networks, such as those owned by the company, are regulated in certain limited respects by the Federal Communications Commission (‘FCC’), including some regulations that only apply to content networks affiliated with a cable television operator. Other FCC regulations, although imposed on cable television operators and direct broadcast satellite (‘DBS’) operators and other distributors, affect content networks indirectly.
The company’s digital products and services are subject to federal and state laws in the U.S. relating to the privacy and security of personal information collected from its users, including laws pertaining to the acquisition of personal information from children. Some examples of these laws include the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the federal Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN SPAM), the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
History
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. was incorporated in 2008.