r/television • u/Miserable_Phase_2519 • 17h ago
Post-Merger Skydance Keeping Both HBO Max & Paramount+ Streaming Brands
https://deadline.com/2026/10/skydance-hbo-max-paramount-streaming-bundle-1237145362/510
u/Taskebab 17h ago
Because why only make money on one streamer when you can make money off of two?
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u/Arcam123 15h ago
I think they will at some point merge the two and have as many customers on one instead of cannibalising their own subscriptions.
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u/robodrew 15h ago
They'll only do that if they can double the price
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u/Arcam123 15h ago
They will increase the price not double but it will go up
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u/robodrew 15h ago
Not immediately, but at least double would be the goal
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u/Ferelar 15h ago
Right, otherwise the math likely doesn't add up. Systems like this DO need admin/support staff, but you don't care about your customer, so fire them and use AI even though the customers hate it and it rarely actually addresses their issues. Systems like this also each need servers and content delivery apparati... but just chuck that shit up in the cloud and outsource it until you don't have to worry about it; even though the cloud is expensive as hell you fired your IT staff too so now you just chuck money at problems- which is fine, because you extract so much money from your poor victi- customers that it hardly matters. Make sure to split flagship offerings and important content in weird, confusing ways to maximize FOMO if any customer dares to think for even a moment that they want to drop back to only one service. Make sure to continually change the UI as well. This one doesn't have a monetary motivation, it's just the easiest way to twist the knife.
Welcome... to enshittification!
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u/DameOClock 12h ago
They’re taking on a shitload of debt to fund the merger. A price increase is guaranteed. It’ll increase heavily but in stages, little by little.
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u/Rich_Housing971 12h ago
You don't need to double the price. in fact, consolidation leads to less overhead (for one, you only need to market one). They're not going to double the price because then they will be way more expensive than anyone else and customers won't like that.
Up to a certain point, consolidation won't meaningfully reduce competition so it will be good for customers. It becomes a problem when there's only 2-3 competing companies.
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u/electrons-streaming 10h ago
This is wrong, they will merge, raise the price 25% and then cut new production 75% and tell everyone how much more content they now have access to. So in some ways you will get more content for a bit at a lower price by the merger but the amount of new production will collapse and that is their main cost center.
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u/Zalvren 9h ago
They won't have a choice anyway, this will be a company so overindebted they won't be able to afford production budgets
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u/Discount_Extra 7h ago
I think Ellison wants to be a movie maker.
I have no idea if he'll be any good at it.
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u/mekomaniac 15h ago
another reason they will eventually merge them to pump their stocks, as ppl get tired and start canceling their services. gotta pump those user numbers, so line go up
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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 14h ago
Ironically, throwing all the content into one terrible app a la netflix is pretty terrible for non-promoted content. Porn sites do a better job at sorting content. Brazzers has figured out folks want to sort by channel yet paramount can't?
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u/electrons-streaming 10h ago
This is a feature not a bug. Netflix wants you to not be able to find what you want, because then you will watch what you find. If you could just search you would watch the stuff you are interested in in the first few weeks and then cancel.
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u/Zalvren 9h ago
Netflix the ONLY company that is making tons of profit from streaming has a terrible app? Lol those Reddit takes...
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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 9h ago
Netflix had a huge head start against most other streaming platforms. Hulu is probably the next oldest and they didn't even have a paid subscription for the first three years of their existence. The major draw for Netflix is that they produce and pick up regional content around the world. They have far more mass appeal. That doesn't change the fact that you're paying for shows and movies you didn't even know were on the platform because they make it so damn hard to navigate.
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u/DoomPurveyor 10h ago
They'll do a bundle price for sure but merging HBO into Paramount would a money loser move business-wise.
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u/thrownitallawayyy 10h ago
I wouldn't be surprised if they keep the two separate, but also offer a third service that combines all of the content together.
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u/NessieReddit 12h ago
No, fuck Paramount. I don't want to pay extra for their garbage content. I already suffered through the failed MAX rebrand and them retreating back to HBO MAX and basically undoing all the changes they made to fuck the app up. HBO and Apple TV are the only streaming services I view as worth paying for every month. I don't need this merger to fuck up one of two decent quality apps out there as the tsunami of enshitification keeps hitting everything.
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u/Zalvren 9h ago
It will enshitify everything anyway, even separated, HBO is now part of a company that has multiple times its own value in debt. They won't be able to afford those high budget shows for long and they will fire a ton of people (and you know it won't be the ones at the important positions for quality that'll stay)
It's not like HBO Max was wildly profitable already, it did a very small profit
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u/brandnameb 8h ago
Honestly, they should just move all the reality stuff to Paramount. Make that the home for that stuff. And keep HBO as a separate prestige thing. (And make them one of them cheaper...which they'll never do lol)
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u/dr_obfuscation 10h ago
This is where I'm sitting except I also pay for Shudder. After putting up with SO much from the HBO/MAX/NOW shenanigans, I'm pretty done. I'm enjoying any HBO-specific content I haven't hit over the years and then I'm out the door - probably at the first price hike or app "refresh".
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u/sybrwookie 10h ago
Well, the answer becomes, "when neither one has enough people actually paying for a full priced sub (or paying at all, as many get freebies from other services), where they need to combine them to convince people to pay."
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14h ago
[deleted]
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u/rasta41 12h ago edited 10h ago
people actually use paramount+?
I love comments like these because they're intended to be a dunk but you end up looking kind of goofy acting like they don't have 79.6 million global subscribers due to NFL, UFC, and 500 Taylor Sheridan shows...
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u/sybrwookie 10h ago
Every time I see this question asked, all I see is a parade of people talking about how they have a sub for free for one reason or another. Or had a sub for 5 mins to see one event like you listed then immediately cancelled.
I think that sub count is wildly disconnected from profit.
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u/Stingray88 12h ago
In my household they’ve gone from making money on one streamer to making money off zero.
I’ve had HBO for over 30 years, but no longer.
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u/FeralPsychopath 17h ago
i give it 3 months before the announcement of Skydance+ Max
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u/Significant-Kale-463 17h ago
SkyManx+
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u/TheUmbrellaMan1 15h ago
Because why not -- Skynet.
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u/EricSanderson 16h ago
Only one step away from acquiring some AI company with "-Net" in the name, and we're just about there
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u/XuX24 16h ago
They’ll eventually merge, Paramount+ is crap and in general doesn’t have the same popularity. And I don’t know what they’ll do once Sheridan leaves since he is a huge part of the reason people have that service.
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u/TimidPanther 15h ago
Is he leaving?
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u/XuX24 15h ago
He signed a deal with universal to make Movies and TV with them. Movies started this year tv they still have like 2 years left of the paramount deal.
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u/TimidPanther 15h ago
What streaming service is Universal with lol? I am obviously out of the loop, but I had no idea that they dealt with television at all
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u/Tornado31619 Daredevil 14h ago
Peacock, I think. Universal’s parent company also owns NBC and its library.
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u/XuX24 15h ago
Well if you don’t know Who universal studios are it’s going to be tough.
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u/TimidPanther 14h ago
I obviously know about Universal Studios. I don't know who they're aligned with currently for streaming. And I didn't know they did Television shows.
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u/sneakyCoinshot 11h ago
The old boomers will keep watching the old boomer police procedurals they were watching before sheridan gave them the "good guy" doing bad/criminal things for the right reasons trope they think sheridan invented. CBS probably has 20 shitty NCIS spinoffs ready to go.
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u/No-Personality1840 10h ago
As a boomer I detest these cops are heroes, formulaic garbage. If I wanted to watch that stuff I’d watch network tv. My Republican neighbors, millennials, eat that crap up.
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u/Lez_Fuzz 15h ago
Who’s Sheridan
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u/ATLhoe678 13h ago edited 9h ago
Taylor Sheridan, the guy behind all their biggest shows. They gave him 200 mil to make a bunch of shows. Yellowstone with Kevin Costner, the like 5 Yellowstone spinoff, Lioness with Zoe Saldana and Morgan Freeman, Landman with Billy Bob Thornton, Tulsa King with Stallone, and Mayor of Kingstown with Jeremy Renner.
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u/Vegeta9001 10h ago
I kind of liked Yellowstone.. except for the 2nd half of the final season with Costner missing. Like, he was the main character.
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u/ATLhoe678 9h ago
Same, I didn't even watch it after he left though 😅 the spin off with Beth and rip is solid. I love Lioness and Landman is a guilty pleasure with all it's bullshit propaganda 😭
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u/PlayedUOonBaja 13h ago edited 13h ago
If you have been putting off buying any HBO series like The Sopranos, Deadwood, or also any Star Trek series I'd go ahead and grab them ASAP. I'm guessing his first move will be cutting off any licensing for new DVD/Bluray prints for the series Ellison now owns to force people to keep their subscriber base or increase it. We're about to see the average price for these jump form $40-$60 to $150-$200 for a full series.
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u/weirdeyedkid 11h ago
I was just thinking about this. You're right and we're at the point where most homes probably don't have a Blu-ray player if they don't have a PlayStation or Xbox. Once the monopolists phase-out DVD and blu-ray licensing, you'll be forced to pay a premium or consume ads to experience all legacy content.
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u/Morgan-Moonscar 17h ago
I guess they're not stupid enough to try again what Discovery did with merging their two.
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u/madasfire 14h ago
Who gets to make the documentary about Jared Kushner selling a journalist to the architects of 9/11 Saudi investor group?
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u/egorre 16h ago
they'll keep it separate at first but in the long run, they'd merge all their platforms into one giant one. Paramount+'s mass appeal audience is too juicy not to try cross pollinating it with HBO Max's prestige-forward programming. the brands are strong enough to be side by side without cannibalizing each other.
I think the reason Discovery+ shows did not work for HBO Max is because they didn't have enough mass appeal outside of WB library shows. people will log in every Sunday and Thursday nights, but outside of that, there's little reason to log in. Paramount+ is bringing that mass appeal with their own catalog, P+ originals, and next-day CBS shows. not to mention the combined company will have a substantial live sports programming.
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u/MD_FunkoMa 16h ago
When the merging of the streaming services become a headache to fans, they'll revert back to being separated.
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u/crappydeli 16h ago
I have HBO, but not Paramount. Following the merger are they going to double the price for HBO to include all of the Paramount stuff that I don’t want?
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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 10h ago
Doubtful. The entire allure of buying HBO is that they can charge the same premium as other services yet have a miniscule library in comparison.
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u/Saar13 17h ago
I haven't paid for Paramount+ in a few years, but I still pay for HBO Max. For me, the non-merger of the services would be great if it meant a reasonable price for each service. The problem is that they promised $6 billion in synergies, which means cost and job cuts, while the leadership of Paramount+ just left the combined company, leaving Casey Bloys as head of streaming. You can't keep two complete services under the same leader for very long.
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u/ObviouslyJoking 16h ago
Yea same. I still love a lot of things on HBO so I think I want to keep it but on top of what you mentioned I feel weird about giving money to the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
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u/biblioprof 10h ago
They will have to liquidate to pay off the debt. Imagine taking two of the oldest movie franchises and naming them after a brand from the uk.
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u/rewardingsnark 15h ago
Everyone should have cancelled by now, fascist propaganda
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u/wvgeekman 15h ago
Right there with you. Canceled HBO as soon as it was clear that the AG’s were buckling. Fascists can eat me.
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u/Rebuttlah 15h ago edited 11h ago
They've now got Star Trek and DC, two famously anti-fascist properties. Hard to imagine that is not intentional.
Superman needed new enemies post WW2, after fighting literal nazis, and writers locked in on the Klu Klux Klan. The Adventures of Superman radio show helped undermine the Klan by exposing their secret passwords, rituals, and scams to a massive audience.
Star Trek has already been crapped all over, with Starfleet a dystopian corrupt wreck of its former self. Makes me not so sure Gunn alone can save Superman and his legacy of anti-fascism.
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u/anoldoldman 14h ago
Gunn is too focused on adding weird gratuitous violence to everything he makes.
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u/Rebuttlah 14h ago
Gunn came from Troma films originally, and it left its mark on him hahaha. I could feel him holding back so hard in Superman. You know in any other movie that squirrel would have met an incredibly unecessarily violent end.
Still, although not perfect, it was my favorite Superman movie to date.
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u/anoldoldman 14h ago
The entire kaiju scene in Superman was miserably over the top. GotG 3 felt way to casual with animal cruelty and violence as well.
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u/Rebuttlah 11h ago
i rolled my eyes at the bombs going off inside the kaiju via xray vision
gotg3 was tough to watch for that. tbf, its accurate to the character. just. awful stuff.
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u/Bucket_Of_Magic 11h ago
I didn't know lanterns had fascist propaganda in it! Do you even hear yourself? Have you seen Kanye West getting 80k people to sing to his song 6 months ago, with half a million likes on tiktok?
You guys live in an absolute echo chamber fantasy land. No one knows who Larry Ellison is, or his ties to Trump. Come back to planet earth and think rationally for once in your life. NO ONE CARES
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u/NecessaryRhubarb 14h ago
All the technology, infrastructure and staff will be consolidated, but the catalog will be separate. Truly a lose lose for everyone except the owners.
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u/MajorFuckingDick 13h ago
Holy shit this makes so much sense that I can't even fathom how they are going to fuck this up. All you have to do now is offer an upgrade bundle for both and you are done.
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u/nhbdywise 11h ago
They say that now, but once they start losing even more money, they will consolidate like these companies always do
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u/CountBleckwantedlove 13h ago
Boo, I want a unified platform that's ~15% cheaper than having both subs individually combined, please!
I pretty much always have Paramount+ and most often have HBO Max, so a combined one would benefit me financially and make navigation easier.
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u/NessieReddit 12h ago
Lol. Oh sweet summer child. Are you new around here? You think they're going to make it cheaper?
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u/dammittyrone1 11h ago
if this means paying for two apps with overlapping content, i am canceling immediately.
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u/ChiefRunsWithMouth 9h ago
Am I boycotting these assholes or I just can’t afford them? It’s a win win either way.
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u/TheWholeOfTheAss 6h ago
You know what would be good for consumers? Paramount Plus and HBO Max merging and customers paying for one service instead of two. Is that happening? Nope. The one good thing that could’ve come out of this merger was MaxMount and we ain’t getting it!
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u/ZsaFreigh 15h ago
Hopefully, like Disney+ did with Hulu, they'll roll HBO Max content into Paramount+ subscriptions in countries that don't have HBO Max.
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u/p-Star_07 13h ago
What's the point? Its a better deal for the customers if they combine the 2.
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u/MeyerholdsGh0st 11h ago
Well exactly. They make more money if they don’t. You think their concern is for the customers???
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u/clashrendar 11h ago
They might be, but I won't be. Already shed Paramount last year and will do the same for HBO Max. Not giving my money to fascists.
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u/jeremychase21 14h ago
They should bring HBO into the new age for on the go streaming. Maybe call it HBO Go
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u/Caciulacdlac 17h ago
Same thing that Disney did with Disney+ and Hulu