Paramount Skydance, created from the completed $111B merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, announced that HBO Max, Paramount+, and Discovery+ will eventually unify into a single streaming service, replacing earlier speculation about a Disney-style bundle.
<p>After months of industry and customer speculation, Paramount Skydance has shed some light on the future of the HBO Max and Paramount+ streaming services.</p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/10/paramount-completes-111b-warner-merger-creating-skydance-behemoth/">Paramount Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery</a> (WBD) today, ending a monthslong saga that began when <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/netflixs-72b-wb-acquisition-confounds-the-future-of-movie-theaters-streaming/">Netflix last year announced</a> its own plans to buy WBD. <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/netflix-cedes-warner-bros-discovery-to-paramount-no-longer-financially-attractive/">Netflix scrapped those plans</a> in February. Skydance is the name of the company created from the $111 billion merger.</p>
<p>In an announcement today, Skydance said that all of the direct-to-consumer streaming services it owns, including the Discovery+ service that Discovery Inc. (which merged with WarnerMedia in 2022 to create WBD) launched in 2021, “will unify into a single service over time.”</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/10/hbo-max-paramount-and-discovery-will-unify-into-a-single-service/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/10/hbo-max-paramount-and-discovery-will-unify-into-a-single-service/#comments">Comments</a></p>
# HBO Max, Paramount+, and Discovery+ "will unify into a single service”
Source: [https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/10/hbo-max-paramount-and-discovery-will-unify-into-a-single-service/](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/10/hbo-max-paramount-and-discovery-will-unify-into-a-single-service/)
After months of industry and customer speculation, Paramount Skydance has shed some light on the future of the HBO Max and Paramount\+ streaming services\.
[Paramount Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros\. Discovery](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/10/paramount-completes-111b-warner-merger-creating-skydance-behemoth/)\(WBD\) today, ending a monthslong saga that began when[Netflix last year announced](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/netflixs-72b-wb-acquisition-confounds-the-future-of-movie-theaters-streaming/)its own plans to buy WBD\.[Netflix scrapped those plans](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/netflix-cedes-warner-bros-discovery-to-paramount-no-longer-financially-attractive/)in February\. Skydance is the name of the company created from the $111 billion merger\.
In an announcement today, Skydance said that all of the direct\-to\-consumer streaming services it owns, including the Discovery\+ service that Discovery Inc\. \(which merged with WarnerMedia in 2022 to create WBD\) launched in 2021, “will unify into a single service over time\.”
The brief but informative statement brings some clarity to questions about whether Skydance would get rid of any of the streaming services or continue to offer all of the services individually or as a discounted bundle\.
The latter theory gained particular credence on October 1, when[The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/casey-bloys-hbo-max-paramount-plus-bundle-1236718354/)published statements that Casey Bloys, HBO Max’s content chief who is[expected to lead](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/cindy-holland-exit-paramount-casey-bloys-hbo-max-1236716640/)Skydance’s combined streaming efforts, made at Bloomberg’s 2026 Screentime event:
> I would say that I don’t want to comment on what is going to happen or anything like that, but I would point to the HBO Max\-Disney bundle, which has been very successful… So could you see something like that happening? That would make a lot of sense\.
But with today’s announcement, it seems that one day, HBO’s high\-budget dramas like*House of the Dragon*and*The Wire*will live under the same streaming service as Paramount\+ shows like*Tulsa King*and*Star Trek: Strange New Worlds*, and Discovery\+ content like the various*90 Day Fiancé*spinoffs and*Fixer Upper: Welcome Home\.*
HBO Max and Paramount Plus will be unified into a single streaming service as Skydance completes its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, a move aimed at competing with Netflix's subscriber base.
Paramount has completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, forming a combined company called Skydance led by David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz, putting major studios, networks, and streaming brands like HBO, CBS News, and CNN under one roof after settling antitrust suits from 12 states.
Discovery Plus is raising prices on both its ad-supported ($6.99/month) and ad-free ($11.99/month) plans, weeks after Paramount completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and announced plans to eventually merge Paramount Plus and HBO Max.
Discovery+ subscription prices rose by up to 20 percent, with ad-free plans moving from $10 to $12 per month, shortly after Paramount Skydance completed its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount must release at least 30 movies annually after merging with Warner Bros. Discovery to meet settlement quotas and avoid penalties. This requirement aims to protect industry jobs but may be challenging given recent film output levels.