Paramount+ and HBO Max set to merge – but HBO tipped to operate with "independence"

Following the news that Paramount Skydance had won out in its battle to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, beating out Netflix's offer with a bid that was deemed "superior", the company has reaffirmed its plan to combine Paramount+ and HBO Max.

Paramount CEO David Ellison spoke about this plans during an investor call, as reported by Variety, now that the wheels are in motion for the deal to go ahead.

He said: "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. 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 [direct to consumer]."

While it has not yet been confirmed exactly how this will work in practice and whether the new streamer will be retaining one title or another, Ellison did say that "HBO should stay HBO", suggesting a special place would be marked out for the brand, which has for many years been synonymous with premium, critically lauded content.

Ellison said on the call: "Casey [Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max Content] and his team do absolutely a remarkable job at HBO. 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."

HBO's current, ongoing dramas include A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon, Euphoria, The White Lotus and The Last of Us, amongst many others. Meanwhile, upcoming additions include DC's Lanterns and the new Harry Potter series.

HBO Max has yet to launch in the UK, and will actually be arriving later this month. Based on the prospective deal, it seems it may only be doing so, at least in its current form, in the short-term.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.