CCI vs WBD Comparison

Crown Castle owns and leases roughly 40,000 cell towers in the United States. It also owns more than 90,000 route miles of fiber. It leases space on its towers to wireless service providers, which install equipment on the towers to support their wireless networks. Crown Castle's towers and fiber are predominantly in the largest US cities. The company has a very concentrated customer base, with about 75% of its revenue from the Big Three US mobile carriers. Crown Castle operates as a real estate investment trust. It has announced plans to divest its fiber business, which should be finalized in 2026. After that, Crown will be a stand-alone tower operator.

Warner Bros. Discovery was formed in 2022 through the combination of WarnerMedia and Discovery Communications. In 2026, it intends to split its global networks business from its streaming and studios businesses, forming two separate companies. The streaming business includes HBO Max, which is rapidly increasing its international footprint in addition to its major presence in the US. Studios include industry leaders in both film and television, which produce movies and television series that are monetized in multiple ways, including theatrical release, sales to third parties, and feeding into Warner's own platforms. Global networks consist of basic cable networks like CNN, TNT, TBS, Discovery, HGTV, and The Food Network. The Discovery+ streaming service will remain part of global networks.