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AT&T, owner of HBO and Warner Bros studios, and Discovery, home to lifestyle TV networks such as HGTV and TLC, said on Monday they will combine their content assets to create a standalone global entertainment and media business.
Discovery chief executive David Zaslav will lead the proposed new company, which will comprise one of Hollywood's most powerful studios, including the Harry Potter and Batman franchises, news network CNN, sports programming and Discovery's unscripted home, cooking and nature and science shows.
Shares in Discovery climbed about 16 per cent to $41.3 in premarket trade but fell 2 per cent afterward as investors digested that it would take time for Discovery to scale up in streaming, said Rich Greenfield, partner at LightShed Partners.