HBO Max and Paramount+ will combine after WBD merger
HBO Max and Paramount+ are set to become a single streaming service following the merger of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount.
By Liam Reilly, CNN
(CNN) — It’s not TV. It’s HBO — and also Paramount+.
During Paramount’s first investor call since emerging victorious in the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, CEO David Ellison shared that following the merger, Paramount+ and HBO Max will join to form a single streaming platform.
“We will combine the streaming portfolios of the two companies into one stronger platform over the coming years,” Ellison said on the Monday morning call. “Across the two platforms, there are over 200 million DTC subscribers today in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide.”
The combination would mark one of the most significant integrations yet in the streaming wars.
That 200-million figure would almost certainly shrink under a combined service, given subscriber overlap between the platforms. Paramount ended Q4 with 78.9 million direct-to-consumer subscribers, while Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) reported 131.6 million.
For context, when WBD and Netflix were still in merger talks, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told lawmakers that 80% of HBO Max subscribers also have Netflix accounts. Netflix recently reported surpassing 325 million subscribers.
A combined HBO Max-Paramount+ streaming service would unite the two companies’ marquee franchises — from HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and “The Sopranos” to Paramount’s “Yellowstone” and “Star Trek” franchises.
Ellison did not suggest a name for the new combined streamer, but it will almost certainly result in another rebrand for WBD’s streamer, which just this past summer rebranded back to HBO Max after spending two years as simply Max, following earlier iterations as HBO Now and the original HBO Max.
As part of the merger, Paramount will also acquire CNN, which is currently owned by WBD. During Monday’s call, Ellison told analysts that Paramount has “no divestitures planned at this time” regarding cable — meaning the company does not plan to sell cable assets.
Whether that means Ellison will keep CNN’s new streaming platform, All Access, or fold it into the combined streamer remains to be seen.
The-CNN-Wire
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