The vision of Warner Bros. Discovery hasn't panned out, but it opens the door for the studio to do more and for linear to find a new life.

At the end of March, Warner Bros. Discovery had gross debt of $38.0 billion, which is comprised of “total debt” ($37.4 billion) and financial leases ($535 million). The 2022 merger of WarnerMedia (owned by AT&T) and Discovery, Inc. created more than $50 billion of debt.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) stock popped early Monday after the company announced plans to split into two independent, publicly traded companies, separating its streaming and studio assets from its global television networks business.