The ongoing back-and-forth over the future of HBO and its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery calls to mind a line from one of the network's great recent series: the business magnate Logan Roy telling his squabbling children "You are not serious people.

The studio and streaming business will largely operate the same as WBD currently does, without the burden of the sagging linear TV assets. Though the split will relieve the company of much of its current $34 billion debt, Zaslav has deep industry ties, which will continue to serve the company as they focus on movies and larger franchises.

He and Gunnar Weidenfels detail the blockbuster unbundling of WBD: Decision "reflects our belief that each company will go further and faster apart than they can together."