Warner Bros. Discovery has posted its results for the second quarter of 2026, and the numbers put the spotlight back on AT&T’s 2018 Time Warner acquisition and the messy breakup that came after it.
AT&T paid $108.7 billion for Time Warner in 2018, after the U.S. Department of Justice failed to block the vertical merger. The DOJ had argued the deal could raise fees for rival distributors, reduce competition, and slow innovation.
AT&T won that court fight, but the plan fell apart under the weight of debt, a telecom-and-Hollywood culture mismatch, streaming upheaval, cord-cutting, and changing viewer habits. In 2021, AT&T spun off WarnerMedia.
WarnerMedia then merged with Discovery in 2022, creating Warner Bros. Discovery. The pressure still shows. As of Q2 2026, the company had about $29.7 billion in net debt, $8.7 billion in quarterly revenue, and $149 million in net income, according to Warner Bros. Discovery. At the same time, linear TV kept sliding and restructuring efforts were still underway.
Under CEO David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery has focused on cutting costs, paying down debt, and reworking its streaming strategy. Max passed 140 million global subscribers in Q1 2026, according to Warner Bros. Discovery. For anyone who follows media mergers, this remains a cautionary story with more to reveal.
You can keep up with the latest through Warner Bros. Discovery’s earnings reports and updates from the Max platform.
Author: Alyssa Lavinia Dellosa
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