For AT&T, breaking even was good enough. On Monday it confirmed that three years after closing a blockbuster $110bn acquisition of Time Warner, it is leaving Hollywood. Its WarnerMedia unit will combine with US cable-TV network mainstay, Discovery. AT&T shareholders will own 71 per cent of the enlarged, listed business.

Discovery shares rallied a tenth in early Monday trading. That implied valuation reveals that the legacy Time Warner unit is roughly worth what AT&T paid for it five years ago. 

AT&T hoped to build a challenger to Netflix and Disney. Instead, a confused strategy clashed with a heavy cash requirements. It could not balance investments required both for its core telecom business and in its movie and TV production units. The good news for AT&T shareholders is that they will at least have a stake in the future Discovery/Warner business, though AT&T will not.