Get ready to update your Paramount+ parental controls.
HBO Max and Paramount+ will combine into one direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service if and when Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is complete. There are still quite a number of regulatory hurdles standing in the way.
“We do plan to put the two services together, which today gives us a little over 200 million direct to consumer subscribers,” Paramount CEO David Ellison said during a Monday investor call outlining his broader business plan. “We think that really positions us to compete with the leaders in the space.”
By mid-2026, Paramount will have consolidated Paramount+, FAST platform Pluto TV and BET+ “under one unified stack,” he said, “and you can see us taking a similar approach to [HBO Max] going forward. We think the combined offering, given the amount of content and what we can do from the tech side, really will put us in a position to be able to compete with the most scaled players in DTC.”
In other words: Netflix, we’re coming for you. The overwhelming scale of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video is among the key reasons Ellison fought so hard to bring HBO Max and Discovery+ in house.
There is this bit of good news for prestige TV junkies: The HBO brand will continue to “operate with independence,” Ellison promised.
It’s a good call.
“Casey [Bloys] and his team do absolutely a remarkable job at HBO,” Ellison said. “We do plan for that to be able to operate with independence, so that HBO can, candidly, do what it does incredibly well. Our viewpoint is HBO should stay HBO. They built a phenomenal brand. They are a leader in the space, and we just want them to continue doing more of it.”
Preach. Ellison’s personal fave HBO IP is Game of Thrones, which just feels so appropriate given the past year of his moguling.
David Ellison has been angling for Hollywood’s Iron Throne, a plot right out of his favorite HBO series …
Helen Sloan/HBO
It was not a foregone conclusion that HBO Max and Paramount+ would merge into one, even after it became a foregone conclusion that Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery would. There are pros and cons to the planned consolidation and to the alternative path with continued separation, as I outlined here on Friday. But Ellison seems quite confident in his plan.
In November, I asked Bloys if he was nervous about the future of HBO — and his job security — under the potential (at the time) Paramount takeover. Back then, Netflix wasn’t even (publicly) in the game.
“I had a town hall a couple weeks ago, and I said, ‘The only thing you can do in this process, and the best thing you can do, is just focus on your job, which is making the most impactful programming in whatever genre,’” Bloys replied. “It’s kind of a waste of energy, because I don’t know what’s going to happen.
“Now, that being said, I’m obviously very proud of what we’ve done at HBO and HBO Max. I would like to see that continue,” he continued. “We’ve all worked at HBO for a long time. I’m proud of our track record, but you have to go into these processes with an open mind. And a lot of it is out of our hands.”
It is now entirely out of Netflix’s hands, as Warner Bros. broke off that agreed-upon acquisition for the sweetened (and, like, sixth) Paramount offer. The $2.8 billion break fee Netflix has already pocketed ought to cushion that blow a bit.
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