HBO Max, Paramount+ to Merge After Warner Bros Deal
Paramount has confirmed plans to combine its streaming service, Paramount+, with HBO Max following its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, setting the stage for one of the biggest integrations in the global streaming market.
Speaking during Paramount’s first investor call since winning the months-long bidding battle for Warner Bros. Discovery, chief executive David Ellison said the merged company would gradually unite the two platforms into a single service.
“We will combine the streaming portfolios of the two companies into one stronger platform over the coming years,” Ellison told investors, adding that the two services together currently reach more than 200 million direct-to-consumer subscribers across over 100 countries and territories.
Industry analysts expect that figure to decline once the services are merged, as many subscribers are believed to hold accounts on both platforms. Paramount ended the last quarter with nearly 79 million streaming subscribers, while Warner Bros. Discovery reported about 132 million.
Previous industry disclosures highlight the extent of subscriber overlap in the streaming sector. During earlier merger discussions involving Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix, Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos told US lawmakers that a large majority of HBO Max users also subscribed to Netflix, which now has more than 325 million subscribers worldwide.
A combined service would bring together some of television’s most valuable franchises, including HBO titles such as Game of Thrones and The Sopranos, alongside Paramount properties like Yellowstone and Star Trek.
Ellison did not reveal what the new streaming platform would be called, but the move is expected to trigger another rebrand for Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming business, which only recently reverted to the HBO Max name after operating as Max.
As part of the wider merger, Paramount is also set to acquire CNN. Ellison said the company has no immediate plans to sell off cable assets, though it remains unclear whether CNN’s streaming operations will remain separate or be folded into the new combined platform.
The merger, still subject to regulatory approval, is widely expected to reshape competition in the increasingly crowded global streaming market.
