Skydance will merge HBO Max and Paramount+ into one service

Skydance said on 6 October 2026 that its streaming services HBO Max, Paramount+ and Discovery+ will unify into a single service over time. The announcement came in the same statement confirming that the $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery was complete, ending a process that had been briefly blocked by a multi-state lawsuit until Paramount reached a settlement in late September.engadget.com

The decision matters because it creates one company controlling HBO, Warner Bros., Paramount, CBS, CNN, DC Studios and both major streaming apps, with more than 200 million subscribers worldwide. Previously Paramount+ and HBO Max competed separately; now Skydance plans to combine their catalogues and technology. The company has not named the unified service, set a price or given a date for when the merger of the apps will happen.heise.de+1

What the announcement changes

Skydance has not moved quickly on the technical side. HBO Max's official support page says there are currently no immediate changes to either service's apps, subscriptions, pricing or content, and customers subscribed to both can keep using them separately. CEO David Ellison said at a press event on the Paramount lot that in the immediate term the services will be operated separately, with bundling coming in the relatively short term.martincid.com

Ellison described the end state plainly: "Long-term, the plan is basically to bring them together." He also said the combination "today gives us a little over 200 million direct-to-consumer subscribers" and that "We think that really positions us to compete with the leaders." The figure matches Skydance's own statement that Paramount+ and HBO Max collectively give it more than 200 million streaming subscribers worldwide.

Ellison has repeatedly said HBO will keep its identity. On an investor call in March he said "HBO should stay HBO. They built a phenomenal brand," and he has stressed that HBO would continue to operate with independence after the merger. Skydance appointed HBO CEO Casey Bloys to Co-Chair and Chief Content Officer of Skydance DTC, putting him in charge of original programming, strategy, operations, communications and performance across both HBO Max and Paramount+.

Where the subscriber numbers came from

Bloys has pointed to a bundle as the first step, citing the HBO Max-Disney bundle as a model that has been very successful and saying a similar arrangement would make a lot of sense. His reasoning, as reported, is that the two services serve distinct subscriber bases, so a joint offer would show Skydance how much those audiences overlap before anyone is asked to change apps.

The merger required settlements. Paramount reached an agreement with twelve US states led by California that had sought to block the deal with an antitrust suit, and the Writers Guild of America settled its own lawsuit. Under the state agreement, Skydance commits to releasing at least 30 films a year in US cinemas for five years and spending more on US productions, while a journalism panel will oversee editorial independence at CNN and CBS.

What remains unannounced

Ellison has said AI could speed the technical work, arguing that advances in AI technology mean the company can accelerate how quickly it accomplishes the goal. The company has already combined the technology stacks of Paramount+, BET+ and Pluto TV, a change subscribers did not notice. Merging the visible front end is harder: Warner Bros. Discovery dropped HBO from the service to call it Max, then restored HBO Max in July 2025.

Costs and layoffs are open questions. Skydance has warned employees about layoffs, and the merger is expected to bring significant job cuts, with annual savings targeted at a minimum of $6 billion within three years. Given the debt taken on in the merger, prices for customers could rise, though Skydance has announced neither a name nor a price for the unified service.

Analysts are already projecting growth: Morgan Stanley projects the combined company above 240 million subscribers by 2030. The next visible step will be a bundle price rather than a new app, since Ellison set no date for the combined service and Skydance has published no bundle price. HBO Max and Paramount+ remain separate for now, with the unified service still undefined.