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Paramount Skydance intends to combine Paramount+ and HBO Max services into a single platform after the merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. CEO David Ellison announced these plans during a call with investors on Monday. According to him, the new streaming service will reach more than 200 million subscribers and allow the company to compete with the largest players in the digital distribution market.
Ellison emphasized that the combination of content libraries and technological capabilities will create an offer that can compete with the largest DTC platforms. He noted that the synergy of the catalog and the technology component should strengthen the company’s position in the direct consumer services segment. At the same time, there is no final clarity on the integration format. It has not yet been determined whether the content of the two services will be fully integrated into one application or whether one of them will operate as a separate service within the other. During the call, Ellison also made it clear that the HBO brand will remain autonomous within the new structure.
The question of the subscription price for users of the combined platform is still open. Almost all major streaming services have raised prices over the past year, and HBO Max is no exception.
The planned merger will combine Paramount’s assets, including CBS, MTV, Comedy Central and BET, with Warner’s media assets, including CNN, HBO, TNT and Food Network. In addition, such franchises as Game of Thrones, Mission: Impossible, DC Universe, and SpongeBob SquarePants. According to Reuters, the combined net debt of the combined entity could be approximately $79 billion, potentially making the deal the largest leveraged buyout in history. The merger is expected to be completed in the 2nd half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
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