Amid Cable Spinoffs, Trump’s CNN and MSNBC Hostility Could Raise M&A Hurdles

After Donald Trump’s reelection, David Zaslav expressed hope a Republican administration would smooth the way for industry consolidation. As the Warner Bros. Discovery chief goes the opposite way by splitting up his company , he might face a thornier issue — namely, why anyone would want to buy CNN, or another major mainstream news outlet, with the press-hostile president in the White House.

Although CNN has long been one of Trump’s favorite punching bags, it’s hardly alone in that regard, or even in the scenario of spinning off a news channel with other cable networks. MSNBC faces the same issue as part of Versant , nee SpinCo, as Comcast moved first to shed cable holdings seen as declining assets as linear TV sinks into the media sunset.

All of which raises the question, as these