Shares jump 13% after restructuring announcement

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

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Challenges seen in selling debt-laden linear TV networks

(New throughout, adds details, background, remarks from market experts and analysts, updates share rates)

By Dawn Chmielewski, Deborah Mary Sophia and Aditya Soni

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery on Thursday chose to separate its declining cable television TV businesses such as CNN from streaming and studio operations such as Max, preparing for a possible sale or spinoff of its TV service as more cable television customers cut the cord.

Shares of Warner jumped after the company stated the 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 companies are considering alternatives for fading cable television services, a longtime money cow where earnings are deteriorating as millions of consumers accept streaming video.

Comcast last month revealed 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 acquire other cable television networks if the market consolidates, one source told Reuters.

Bank of America research analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich wrote that Warner Bros Discovery's cable television service assets are a "really rational partner" for Comcast's new spin-off business.

"We highly believe there is capacity for relatively sizable synergies if WBD's direct networks were combined with Comcast SpinCo," composed Ehrlich, using the industry term for standard tv.

"Further, our company believe WBD's standalone streaming and studio properties would be an attractive takeover target."

Under the brand-new structure for Warner Bros Discovery, the cable television organization including TNT, Animal Planet and CNN will be housed in a system called Global Linear Networks.

Streaming platforms Max and Discovery+ will be under a separate division in addition to film studios, including Warner Bros Pictures and New Line Cinema.

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

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

Brightcove CEO Marc DeBevoise stated Warner Bros Discovery's brand-new business structure will differentiate growing studio and streaming possessions from rewarding however shrinking cable company, giving a clearer financial investment photo and most likely setting the phase for a sale or spin-off of the cable system.

The media veteran and adviser anticipated Paramount and others might take a similar path.

CEO David Zaslav, a veteran deal-maker who led Discovery through its acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive before acquiring the even larger target, AT&T's WarnerMedia, is positioning the business for its next chess move, wrote MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman.

"The concern is not whether more pieces will be moved or knocked off the board, or if additional consolidation will take place-- it is a matter of who is the buyer and who is the seller," composed Fishman.

Zaslav indicated that situation during Warner Bros Discovery's investor call last month. He said he anticipated President-elect Donald Trump's administration would be friendlier to deal-making, unlocking to media industry combination.

Zaslav had actually engaged in merger talks with Paramount late last year, though a deal never emerged, according to a regulative filing last month.

Others injected a note of caution, noting Warner Bros Discovery carries $40.4 billion in financial obligation.

"The structure modification would make it easier for WBD to sell off its direct TV networks," eMarketer expert Ross Benes stated, describing the cable television TV service. "However, finding a buyer will be tough. The networks are in debt and have no signs of development."

In August, Warner Bros Discovery made a note of the value of its TV assets by over $9 billion due to unpredictability around costs from cable television and satellite suppliers and sports betting rights renewals.

This week, the media business revealed a multi-year offer increasing the total costs Comcast will pay to disperse Warner Bros Discovery's networks.

Warner Bros Discovery is wagering the Comcast agreement, together with a deal reached this year with cable and broadband provider Charter, will be a design template for future negotiations with suppliers. That could assist stabilize pricing 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)