Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is changing its corporate structure and creating separate divisions for its cable and streaming businesses.

The media company, which is the parent of CNN and HBO, announced Thursday that it is creating a Global Linear Networks division housing its cable brands in news, sports, scripted and unscripted programming. The new Streaming & Studios unit will include the company’s streaming assets and film and entertainment studios. Warner Bros. currently has the Max streaming platform, which has original content, films and shows from networks like HBO.

Other companies have sought to divide their struggling cable networks from their growing streaming businesses. Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal is spinning off the bulk of its cable channels, while keeping its NBC broadcast network and its Peacock streaming platform under the parent company. Warner Bros. has also previously considered spinning off its assets in a similar fashion.

The company aims to implement the new corporate structure by mid-2025.

Applications for jobless benefits rise

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits jumped to their highest level in two months last week but remain low relative to historical standards.

Jobless claim applications climbed by 17,000 to 242,000 for the week of Dec. 7, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s significantly more than the 220,000 analysts were forecasting and yet another data point that reflects a cooling labor market.

This week’s report also showed that continuing claims, the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits, rose by 15,000 to 1.89 million for the week of Nov. 30.

The four-week average of weekly claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by nearly 6,000 to 224,250.

Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs.

Biden White House is cracking down on overdraft fees by U.S. banks

The Biden administration has finalized a rule limiting overdraft fees banks can charge, as part of the White House’s campaign to reduce junk fees that hit consumers on everyday purchases, including banking services.

President Joe Biden had called the fees, which can be as high as $35, “exploitative,” while the banking industry has lobbied extensively to keep the existing fee structures in place.

Under the finalized rule announced Thursday, banks will be able to choose from three options: They may charge a flat overdraft fee of $5, they may charge a fee that covers their costs and losses, or they may charge any fee so long as they disclose the terms of the overdraft loan the way they would for any other loan, typically expressed as an annual percentage rate, or APR.

While banks have cut back on overdraft fees in the past decade, the nation’s biggest banks still take in roughly $8 billion in the charges every year, according to data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and bank public records. Currently, there is no cap on the overdraft fees that banks can legally charge.

The finalized rule is set to take effect in October 2025, but the incoming Trump administration has yet to tap anyone to lead the CFPB, and has mentioned the idea of eliminating the agency.

Compiled from Bloomberg and Associated Press reports.