Two of the biggest names in streaming could soon be sharing a home screen. HBO Max and Paramount+ are set to merge into a single direct-to-consumer platform – pending the completion of Paramount Skydance‘s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which still faces a number of regulatory hurdles.
David Ellison laid out the vision during a Monday investor call, confirming that a combined platform would give the company just over 200 million direct-to-consumer subscribers — a number he believes puts them in genuine contention with the heavyweights of the space. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, in other words, are squarely in the crosshairs.
For fans concerned about what a merger might mean for prestige programming, Ellison was reassuring on one key point – the HBO brand itself will continue to operate independently. Speaking to the strength of the label, he said:
“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.”
Casey Bloys and his team are expected to remain at the helm of HBO’s creative operation.
By mid-2026, Paramount plans to have already consolidated Paramount+, Pluto TV and BET+ under a unified platform – with the HBO Max integration to follow a similar path.