Skydance Closes $110 Billion Warner Bros. Deal, Sets Course for Single Streaming Service
Skydance has completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and plans to unify HBO Max, Paramount+ and Discovery+ into a single streaming service over time. The close was confirmed on Oct. 6, 2026, with the combined company to carry the Skydance name. Engadget
Skydance states the combined company brings together two major film studios, two global streaming services, and television assets including CBS. Skydance The deal gives the company control of HBO Max and Discovery+ alongside its existing Paramount assets, consolidating three distinct direct-to-consumer catalogs, subscriber bases and technology stacks under one owner.
The unification will not happen at once. Skydance describes the single-service goal as a longer-term plan. That phrasing matters. It leaves room for interim bundling, phased migration and continued operation of separate apps while back-end systems are rationalized.
The intent was signaled well before close. In March, Variety reported that Skydance CEO David Ellison intended to combine Paramount+ and HBO Max into a single entity. Ellison later described that combined Paramount+ and HBO Max entity as having a little over 200 million direct-to-consumer subscribers. He also said HBO would continue to operate with independence after the merger.
Personnel moves point to how Skydance wants to manage that balance. Skydance appointed HBO chief Casey Bloys as Co-Chair and Chief Content Officer of Skydance DTC, with oversight of HBO Max and Paramount+ original programming. The appointment was detailed in the Oct. 5 leadership announcement from David Ellison and incoming Co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, issued in anticipation of the close.
Pluto TV has a defined place in the structure. Skydance states Pluto TV will continue as a free streaming experience while Paramount+ remains its premium streaming service. Paramount has separately stated that the combination of Paramount+, HBO Max and Pluto creates a highly competitive direct-to-consumer business, and that putting Paramount and HBO Max together creates a streaming service competitive with Disney.
The transaction path ran through Paramount. Paramount launched an all-cash tender offer to acquire Warner Bros. in December 2025, then announced plans to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery to form a next-generation global media and entertainment company. Ellison has made streaming and technology a top priority, and released a video announcing the Skydance name for the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount was set to become Skydance on Oct. 6, 2026 when the acquisition closed.
Financing and governance disclosures clustered tightly around the close. On Sept. 24, Skydance listed a release on syndication of an incremental Term B facility. On Sept. 30, it listed releases on $41.4 billion and 885 million euro Senior Secured Notes offerings and $8.5 billion and 850 million euro Term Loan B facility pricing, and on Ellison announcing Kreiz as Co-CEO at closing. On Oct. 5, it listed the CEO leadership team release. On Oct. 6, it listed the completion release titled 'Paramount Completes Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, Creating a New Global Entertainment Leader, Skydance'.
Looking at what this means for streaming operations, scale is the easy part to describe. Integration is harder. Subscriber identity, billing entitlements, household profiles, watch history, recommendation models, content delivery contracts, ad-tech integrations and rights windows all have to be reconciled before three services can function as one. Independence for HBO adds a further constraint. It preserves editorial separation while requiring shared infrastructure underneath.
In my view, that tension is familiar from earlier platform consolidations. Owners typically want one churn pool, one acquisition funnel and one technology budget. Content teams want distinct brands with distinct commissioning logic. Bloys overseeing originals across both HBO Max and Paramount+ suggests Skydance will try to centralize greenlights without collapsing the HBO label. Whether subscribers experience that as one app with strong sub-brands or as a single undifferentiated catalog will determine much of the product work ahead.
Worth flagging for technologists is the two-tier DTC framing. A free Pluto tier plus a premium unified SVOD tier gives Skydance separate surfaces for reach and monetization, with clearer paths for authentication sharing, unified search and cross-service personalization if the company chooses to build them. None of that was promised at close. The only commitment so far is direction of travel, toward one premium service over time, with HBO operating independently inside it.
