HBO Max Paramount Plus merger: what Skydance’s day one means for viewers

Skydance’s first full day as the new owner of Paramount and Warner Bros. brought two clear messages: job cuts are coming, and HBO Max and Paramount Plus will eventually become one service. The HBO Max Paramount Plus merger matters to anyone who pays for either app, from Los Angeles to London to Lagos. Here is what the company said on day one, what is confirmed and what is still unclear.

By Editorial Team

What we know

The deal joining Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery closed on Tuesday 6 October. The combined company is now called Skydance, as we reported when the merger closed. Since then, these points have been confirmed:

• The streaming plan (FACT). Skydance’s own press release says HBO Max and Paramount Plus will “unify into a single service over time”, The Verge reports.
• Bundling first (FACT). At a press event on the Paramount lot, chairman and chief executive David Ellison said: “Long-term, the plan is basically to bring them together.” He said the apps would run separately at first, with bundles possible “in the relatively short term”, according to Deadline.
• Layoffs (FACT). In a staff memo titled “Day 1”, Ellison and co-chief executive Ynon Kreiz wrote: “Integrating two companies will bring change, including difficult decisions that affect our workforce.” Variety and Deadline both published the memo.
• The targets (FACT). The memo says the company has nearly $70 billion in revenue, is targeting at least $6 billion in savings and will make at least 30 films a year.

What the HBO Max Paramount Plus merger means for viewers

For now, nothing changes. Both apps keep running under their own names, and Skydance has not said what a combined service would be called, how much it would cost or when it would launch. The Verge notes that HBO chief Casey Bloys will oversee the merged streamer.

The first change most subscribers are likely to see is a bundle, meaning one subscription that gives access to both apps. Bloys hinted at this before the deal closed. “I would point to the HBO Max-Disney bundle, which has been very successful,” he said at a Bloomberg event, according to Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter.

The bigger job happens behind the scenes. Ellison said Skydance had already combined the technology behind Paramount Plus, BET+ and Pluto TV, and credited advances in AI with speeding up the work. Sources told Deadline that combining the HBO Max and Paramount Plus technology is expected to take about a year (REPORTED).

Ellison said in March that the two services together have “a little over 200 million” subscribers, The Verge reports. That would still leave them behind Netflix, which reported 325 million in January.

Merging two streamers is not easy. When WarnerMedia and Discovery combined in 2022, they first planned to fold Discovery+ into HBO Max, then pulled back, Deadline notes. Disney is still slowly moving Hulu programming into Disney+.

For viewers outside the US, what each app offers already varies by country, and HBO shows are often sold to local partners. Skydance has not said whether a combined service would launch in new markets or how existing licensing deals would be handled. Any change there would need its own announcement.

Layoffs and the people side

The memo did not say how many jobs will go. Variety points to a Los Angeles County report from August which estimated the merger could cost about 4,500 film and TV jobs in Los Angeles over three years (REPORTED, a county estimate rather than a company figure).

The memo also explained the new name. “This isn’t a merger of convenience,” Ellison and Kreiz wrote, according to NBC News. “We wanted a name that looks forward rather than one that simply splices together the past.” The studios keep their own brands. NBC News reports that the Warner Bros. water tower in Burbank now carries the line “A Skydance Corporation” underneath.

Skydance also named its board. Kreiz, Laurene Powell Jobs and former Activision chief Bobby Kotick join as directors, and Deadline reports that former UK prime minister Tony Blair will serve as an adviser. We covered the senior team in our guide to Skydance’s leaders.

The first day of trading

Skydance shares fell about 2.5% on their first day, closing at $9.53, NBC News reported (Variety put the fall at 2.7%). On Monday, a group of private individuals asked the US Supreme Court to step in and stop the merger. The court declined.

The 30-films-a-year promise is now in writing. NBC News reports that a September settlement with US states requires 30 films a year for the first two years, then 32 a year for the next three, or a fee. Those films will include DC titles such as The Batman Part II, which has just paused filming. For more on how release numbers turn into box office, see our box office explainer.

What happens next

• Watch for a bundle announcement. Ellison said bundling could come “in the relatively short term” but gave no date.
• Details on layoffs are expected in the coming months. Skydance has not given a number.
• Deadline reports that Skydance plans to make the Paramount and Warner Bros. lots specialise, one in film and one in TV and streaming.
• We will update our global entertainment roundup as the integration moves on.

More global industry news: International Entertainment.

Photo credits: Featured image: The Warner Bros. water tower, Burbank, 2019, before the Skydance line was added. Photo: Steven Lek, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source. In-article image: Stage 25 and the water tower at Paramount Studios, Hollywood, 2024. Photo: Blervis, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Source.

Sources

• The Verge: HBO Max and Paramount Plus will merge into a single streamer under Skydance (6 Oct 2026)
• Deadline: HBO Max and Paramount+ will eventually combine after “short-term” bundling phase, David Ellison says (6 Oct 2026)
• Deadline: Casey Bloys points to bundling for HBO Max and Paramount+ (Oct 2026)
• The Hollywood Reporter: HBO Max, Paramount+ to combine, David Ellison says (6 Oct 2026)
• Variety: Skydance CEOs say layoffs will be coming — read the full memo (6 Oct 2026)
• Deadline: David Ellison, Ynon Kreiz lay out priorities for new Skydance (6 Oct 2026)
• NBC News: ‘A Skydance Corp.’ — Ellison puts his stamp on Warner Bros. (6 Oct 2026)
• Skydance press release: Paramount completes acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery