Shares jump 13% after restructuring statement

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

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Challenges seen in selling debt-laden direct TV networks

(New throughout, includes details, background, remarks from market insiders and experts, updates share rates)

By Dawn Chmielewski, Deborah Mary Sophia and Aditya Soni

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery on Thursday decided to separate its decreasing cable organizations such as CNN from streaming and studio operations such as Max, preparing for a potential sale or spinoff of its TV company as more cable customers cut the cable.

Shares of Warner jumped after the company stated the brand-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 thinking about options for fading cable companies, a longtime golden goose where earnings are deteriorating as countless customers welcome streaming video.

Comcast last month unveiled plans to split the majority of its NBCUniversal cable television networks into a brand-new public company. The new business would be well capitalized and positioned to obtain other cable networks if the market combines, one source told Reuters.

Bank of America research study expert Jessica Reif Ehrlich composed that Warner Bros Discovery's cable possessions are a "extremely logical partner" for Comcast's new spin-off business.

"We highly think there is capacity for relatively large synergies if WBD's linear networks were integrated with Comcast SpinCo," wrote Ehrlich, utilizing the market term for standard television.

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

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

Streaming platforms Max and Discovery+ will be under a separate department together with film studios, consisting of Warner Bros Pictures and New Line Cinema.

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

"Streaming won as a behavior," said Jonathan Miller, president of digital media investment firm Integrated Media. "Now, it's winning as a business."

Brightcove CEO Marc DeBevoise said Warner Bros Discovery's brand-new corporate structure will differentiate growing studio and streaming possessions from successful but diminishing cable service, offering a clearer investment photo and most likely setting the stage for a sale or spin-off of the cable television system.

The media veteran and adviser anticipated Paramount and others may take a comparable path.

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 positioning the business for its next chess move, composed MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman.

"The question is not whether more pieces will be walked around or knocked off the board, or if further consolidation will take place-- it refers who is the buyer and who is the seller," composed Fishman.

Zaslav signified that circumstance throughout Warner Bros Discovery's financier call last month. He said he expected President-elect Donald Trump's administration would be friendlier to deal-making, unlocking to media market combination.

Zaslav had taken part in merger talks with Paramount late in 2015, though an offer never emerged, according to a regulative filing last month.

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

"The structure change would make it simpler for WBD to sell off its direct TV networks," eMarketer expert Ross Benes said, describing the cable television TV company. "However, finding a purchaser will be tough. The networks are in financial obligation and have no signs of development."

In August, Warner Bros Discovery composed down the worth of its TV assets by over $9 billion due to uncertainty around fees from cable and satellite distributors and sports betting rights renewals.

Today, the media business announced a multi-year offer increasing the total 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 supplier Charter, will be a template for future settlements with distributors. That could assist stabilize rates 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)