AT&T to merge WarnerMedia with Discovery, confirms CEO John Stankey

American telecommunications company AT&T CEO John Stankey said on Monday that the company has decided it was “time to unleash the media assets” of WarnerMedia to Discovery.

AT&T had announced on May 17th that the company is planning to outgrow its WarnerMedia business to merge it with TV company Discovery.

The resulting entity is not named yet and is still waiting for regulatory approval. The new entity will be a competitor in the cable space and for streaming content platforms like Netflix and Disney. WarnerMedia owns HBO, CNN, Cartoon Network, TBS, TNT, and the Warner Bros. movie studio, whereas, Discovery comprises various channels that emphasize more on reality TV, also including HGTV, Animal Planet, Food Network, and TLC.

While talking about the streaming sector Stankey said, “What’s become clear is that the opportunity for direct relationships with customers is truly going to be a global opportunity. As a result of that, when you look at the opportunity to grow a fantastic subscriber base we kind of looked at this and said, ‘it’s time to unleash the media assets to go and seize a multi-hundred-billion-dollar opportunity,” reported The Verge.

“Streaming is a little bit of a different shareholder base and management base than what we’d typically have as part of AT&T’s more traditional lines of business,” he added.