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is a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.
Now that Paramount Skydance has become the frontrunner to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, CEO David Ellison wants the two studios’ streaming services to become one.
During a call with investors on Monday, Paramount Skydance head David Ellison insisted that, if his deal to acquire the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery for about $110 billion receives the necessary regulatory approvals, he plans to merge Paramount Plus and HBO Max. Ellison noted that combining the services together would give Paramount Skydance “a little over 200 million direct to consumer subscribers,” but he insisted that the company would want the HBO brand to “operate with independence.”
“Our viewpoint is HBO should stay HBO,” Ellison said. “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.”
Ellison did not comment on any potential leadership changes at WBD, but he commended HBO’s head of programming Casey Bloys for doing an “absolutely a remarkable job” running the network currently.
Ellison’s comments come after a whirlwind bidding war for WBD that took a drastic turn last week when Netflix chose to bow out of the negotiations after Paramount Skydance upped its offer to $31 per share. Previously, Netflix and WBD had agreed to an $83 billion dollar deal that would have resulted in the legacy studio’s TV and film production units being absorbed by the streamer. Following that failed deal’s announcement, Paramount Skydance responded with a hostile $108 billion takeover bid and a series of sweetened offers for all of WBD — which includes cable news channels like CNN.
During the same call today, Ellison stated that the newly merged Paramount Skydance / WBD will commit to the theatrical release of at least 30 films annually, and cited Paramount’s current plan to release 15 movies in 2026 as evidence that the company can hit this new target.
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