HBO Max and Paramount+ Will Be Merged Into One Service

Now that Paramount has made a deal to purchase all of Warner Bros. Discovery, they are beginning to make clear their plans for the combined company when (if?) the deal is finalized. For one thing: the two distinct companies’ streaming services, Paramount+ and HBO Max, respectively, would be merged into a single app.

That’s according to Paramount CEO David Ellison, who told investors on Monday that the goal for the two streamers was to make them into one streamer over the long run.

Ellison said that “we do plan to put the two services together” which would create s service with “over 200 million direct to consumer subscribers.” He added…

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.

Paramount+’s tentpoles include the various recent Star Trek series, South Park, numerous Yellowstone spinoff series. HBO Max is home to shows like Game of Thrones and its various spinoffs and prequels, plus The White Lotus, It: Welcome to Derry, and The Last of Us, along with its extensive library of originals like The Sopranos and The Wire. 

HBO Max is also in production on a new Harry Potter TV series that’s guaranteed to be massive, along with TV shows set in the new DC Universe, like Lanterns.

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Ellison claimed that while the services would be combined, HBO would “operate with independence” within the new mega-conglomerate.

“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.”

The question will be how much will Paramount charge for a combined service with both the HBO Max and Paramount+ libraries. Currently, monthly plans for HBO Max start at $10.99 a month with ads up to $22.99 a month for a “premium” subscription; the yearly prices are $109.99 or $229.99, respectively. Paramount+ costs $8.99 a month with ads or $13.99 a month without; yearly it will set you back either $89.99 or $139.99.