Skydance Confirms HBO Max and Paramount+ Will Merge Into One Streaming Service After Historic Warner Bros. Merger
Hollywood spent most of the past year watching a bruising fight for control of Warner Bros. Discovery. Netflix had agreed to buy the studio and streaming business, Paramount Skydance launched a hostile counterbid, and a series of antitrust suits and legal challenges kept the outcome uncertain well into the fall.
That fight is now over. Paramount completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, October 6, creating a combined company called Skydance, a deal valued at roughly $110 billion, or about $111 billion including the assumption of debt. David Ellison leads the new company as chairman and CEO, with Ynon Kreiz serving as co-CEO.
With the paperwork finished, the question every subscriber has been asking finally has an official answer. In its closing announcement, Skydance confirmed that HBO Max and Paramount+ will become a single streaming service in the future, saying consumers can expect “significant improvements to its direct-to-consumer streaming products, which will unify into a single service over time.”
The statement framed the combination as a technology play. According to the company’s closing press release, consumers can expect greater innovation from a company built with technology at its core. Ellison called the moment historic in the same announcement, saying, “Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry.”
There is still no timeline. The words “over time” leave open whether the unified app arrives in months or years, and no name for the combined service has been announced. The company also said it plans to apply the same operational playbook that allowed Paramount to exceed its synergy targets after the Skydance-Paramount merger.
Fans could be forgiven for being confused. Earlier this year, Ellison told investors that the two services would be combined into one platform, adding that HBO should stay HBO. A person familiar with the company’s plans told CNBC that HBO is likely to remain a sub-brand within the larger service.
More recently, though, signs pointed to a looser arrangement. Deadline reported that Skydance’s own list of key brands included both HBO Max and Paramount+, and HBO chief Casey Bloys, who is expected to oversee the streaming operation, pointed to the successful HBO Max and Disney bundle when asked about the plan. Forbes noted that Bloys suggested the two services would not be fully combined, which makes the new “single service over time” language a notable clarification.
The scale of what Skydance now controls is enormous. The company brings together Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., HBO, CBS, CNN, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Food Network, along with Pluto TV and Discovery+ alongside the 2 flagship streamers. It also controls franchises including ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Yellowstone,’ along with DC Studios.
Skydance has promised a minimum of 30 theatrical films per year and more than 180 television shows and series. If the streamers do merge, the combined service has been projected to have a subscriber base of more than 200 million, which would place it among the biggest players in streaming. The company’s Class B shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD on Tuesday.
Not everyone is celebrating. A coalition called Block the Merger said it will cost jobs, mute creativity, weaken independent journalism and damage First Amendment rights. Paramount Skydance did settle antitrust suits with California and 11 other states, agreeing to independent editorial boards for CNN and CBS, but industry observers have also warned about layoffs and the effects of consolidation.
For subscribers, the practical effects will be slower to arrive. Both apps are expected to keep running for now, and bundling or price changes could come first. Skydance has said only that the unification is coming, and the details are still to be revealed.
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