Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) will report third quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday as the media giant struggles with a declining linear TV business, an unfavorable ad market, and the loss of its key NBA media rights.

In the second quarter, WBD took a massive $9.1 billion impairment charge related to its TV networks unit following the loss of those rights. The company is currently tied up in litigation after suing the NBA in July, citing the "unjustified rejection" of its matching rights proposal.

"We expect WBD's 3Q earnings will reflect a continuation of the various headwinds in the business," Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich wrote in a note ahead of the results.

Here's what Wall Street expects for the third quarter, according to Bloomberg estimates:

• Revenue: $9.81 billion versus $9.98 billion in Q3 2023

• Adjusted loss per share: -$0.12 versus -$0.17 in Q3 2023

• Subscriber net additions: 6.1 million versus loss of 700,000 in Q3 2023

The company has struggled in recent quarters, with profits hit by a weak linear advertising environment and pressure on affiliate fees, or the fees pay TV providers pay to network owners to carry their channels.

Network advertising revenue is expected to have dropped another 7% in the third quarter after falling 10% in Q2 and 11% in Q1, according to Bloomberg estimates.

The loss of the NBA rights has further steepened those challenges, with Deutsche Bank projecting a potential hit of $560 million to total affiliate revenue in 2026 as a result.

But a recent carriage renewal deal with Charter Communications, which included WBD's Max streaming service as part of the package, should help stem some of the bleeding.

"If WBD's renewal with CHTR can be replicated in coming deals, we believe it would be a big improvement versus expectations," BofA's Reif Ehrlich said.

Still, it might be a tall order, as Deutsche Bank warned the company's "upcoming batch of renewals in 2025 are with providers that haven't necessarily shown the same proclivity to include streaming products in their video packages," as Charter has demonstrated.

Will streaming be a bright spot?

Outside of linear TV, streaming has outperformed for the company, which added nearly 4 million Max subscribers in the second quarter and reported a 98% year-over-year jump in streaming advertising revenue.

And although the streaming division posted a loss of $107 million in Q2, Wall Street analysts have largely shrugged it off, citing several tailwinds through the end of the year and into 2025.