Paramount Skydance plans to combine Paramount+ and HBO Max into one streaming service, upon the completion of the merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.
However, Paramount will want HBO, the brand, to “operate with independence.”
“As we said, 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 an investor call breaking down the details of the planned merger Monday. “We think that really positions us to compete with the leaders in the space. At Paramount, by the middle of this year, we’ll have completed the consolidation of our three services under one unified stack, and you can see us taking a similar approach to this platform going forward. And we think the combined offering, and 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.”
Based on the call, it was not immediately clear what the setup of the new combined streamer will be, and whether HBO Max will be available as a tile within the service or fully integrated. However, Ellison did make it clear Paramount leadership wants to give HBO, currently run by Casey Bloys, the special treatment to continue developing and programming content without heavy oversight from Paramount’s execs.
“Casey and his team do absolutely a remarkable job at HBO,” said Ellison, who told analysts on the call that “Game of Thrones” is his favorite HBO series. “And as we 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. But by bringing the platforms together, all of our content will be able to reach even a broader audience than we can do standalone.”
In December, Netflix outmaneuvered Paramount to secure a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming businesses for $27.75 per share. Last week, Paramount sweetened its offer to buy all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its struggling cable business, increasing the proposal from $30 per share to $31 per share. WBD’s board accepted this as the “superior proposal” and Netflix declined to increase its bid, paving the way for the formal announcement of a merger between Paramount and WBD on Friday.