Shares jump 13% after restructuring statement

Follows path taken by Comcast's new spin-off company

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Challenges seen in offering debt-laden direct TV networks

(New throughout, adds information, background, comments from industry insiders and analysts, updates share prices)

By Dawn Chmielewski, Deborah Mary Sophia and Aditya Soni

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Warner Bros Discovery on Thursday decided to separate its decreasing 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 organization 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 expected to complete the split by the middle of 2025. Warner shares closed at $12.49, up more than 15%.

Media business are thinking about alternatives for fading cable television businesses, a long time golden goose where revenues are wearing down as millions of consumers accept streaming video.

Comcast last month revealed plans to divide the majority of its NBCUniversal cable networks into a brand-new public business. The new company would be well capitalized and positioned to acquire other cable television networks if the industry consolidates, one source told Reuters.

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

"We strongly think there is capacity for fairly sizable synergies if WBD's linear networks were combined with Comcast SpinCo," composed Ehrlich, using the industry term for conventional tv.

"Further, our company believe 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 including TNT, Animal Planet and CNN will be housed in an unit called Global Linear Networks.

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

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

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

Brightcove CEO Marc DeBevoise said Warner Bros Discovery's new business structure will separate growing studio and streaming properties from profitable however shrinking cable company, offering a clearer financial investment image and most likely setting the phase for a sale or spin-off of the cable system.

The media veteran and consultant forecasted 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 getting the even larger target, AT&T's WarnerMedia, is positioning the business for its next chess move, composed MoffettNathanson expert Robert Fishman.

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

Zaslav signified that scenario throughout Warner Bros Discovery's investor 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 actually taken part in merger talks with Paramount late in 2015, though a deal never materialized, according to a regulative filing last month.

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

"The structure change would make it easier for WBD to sell its direct TV networks," eMarketer expert Ross Benes said, referring to the cable TV organization. "However, finding a buyer will be difficult. The networks owe money and have no indications of development."

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

Today, the media company announced 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 contract, together with a deal reached this year with cable television and broadband company Charter, will be a design template for future negotiations with suppliers. That might help support prices 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)