Why HBO Max May Lose Sports and CNN in Warner Bros. Discovery Shake-Up

Warner Bros. Discovery is breaking in two, and the split could leave HBO Max subscribers without some of the platform’s most-watched content. Under a sweeping corporate restructure set to take effect in 2026, the media giant will divide into two separate companies: Warner Bros. and Discovery Global.

The move will reshuffle where many of WBD’s properties land, reported. HBO Max, Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, and Warner Bros. Television will stay under the Warner Bros. banner. Meanwhile, Discovery Global will become home to CNN, TNT Sports, Discovery+, Food Network, HGTV, Animal Planet, and the Bleacher Report.

Streaming, Rebalanced

The shake-up is designed to separate WBD’s big-budget studio content from its legacy cable and live entertainment properties. However, it also means that premium sports broadcasts and breaking news—such as NBA games on TNT or live CNN specials—may disappear from HBO Max in the U.S.

While nothing is finalized, signs indicate that CNN and TNT Sports content will shift entirely to Discovery Global’s streaming platforms, including Discovery+ and a planned standalone CNN service, launching later this year. That could fragment streaming even further, leaving subscribers with more apps to juggle if they want all the content they used to find in one place.

Related: HBO Is Quietly Killing Off Some of Its Most Beloved Channels

What It Means for Subscribers

For now, HBO Max will continue to feature some sports and news content. A spokesperson confirmed that TNT Sports will remain on HBO Max when it launches in the UK in 2026. But for U.S. users, that future looks less certain.

If the split goes as planned, it will mirror similar moves by other media giants like Comcast, which is spinning off NBCUniversal’s cable assets into a new company. In both cases, the goal is to streamline core offerings while reducing financial strain from declining cable revenue.

For consumers, though, the result may feel like déjà vu—another change to where and how you stream your favorite shows, sports, and news. And just like past reshuffles, it’s likely to come with new logins, added costs, and more decisions about what’s worth subscribing to next.

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