Discovery faces harsh reality with WarnerMedia

Even show-business marriages have longer honeymoon periods than this.

Last Monday’s announcement of a mega-media combination of Discovery Inc. with the WarnerMedia business of AT&T initially thrilled the investors of both companies. Discovery’s share price opened the day up 10% on the prospect of the niche cable-content provider suddenly becoming one of the largest Hollywood players. Meanwhile, AT&T’s share price jumped nearly 4% on the notion that the telecommunications giant could focus better on its core business without having to also pour capital into a media venture that was never popular with its own investors anyway.