A major shake-up in the streaming landscape continues to have ripple affects.
Paramount is set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, and once the deal is finalized, Paramount+ and HBO Max will merge into a single streaming platform.
The news was confirmed by Paramount CEO David Ellison during an investor call outlining the merger plans.
“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,” Ellison stated.
That’s a massive number.
And it signals a serious push to compete at the highest level in streaming.
Ellison elaborated on the company’s broader strategy moving forward.
“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.”
Despite the integration, the HBO brand will reportedly “operate with independence,” though additional details on how that will look structurally have not been revealed.
As of now, there is no official timeline for when Paramount+ and HBO Max will formally combine into one unified service.
The move is particularly notable for fight fans. UFC events currently stream on Paramount+, while AEW programming airs on HBO Max, with AEW pay-per-views also available for purchase through the platform.
We’ll keep you posted as more details on the merger and its potential impact continue to emerge.
