Paramount boss David Ellison has said that HBO will continue to “operate with independence” after the Warner Bros. sale is completed, despite plans for HBO Max and Paramount+ to be merged into a single subscription.
Ellison made the remark today during an investor call, per Variety, in which he discussed plans to “put the two services together” and combine the companies’ pool of 200 million subscribers to “compete with the leaders in the space.”
Those same leaders include Disney+ (which ended 2025 with around 131 million subscribers), plus Paramount’s former Warner Bros. bidding rival Netflix (325 million subscribers worldwide).
“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 [direct-to-consumer],” Ellison said.
Will HBO Max and Paramount+ become one single app for viewers, with sections for each — similar to Disney+ hosting content from Hulu? Right now, it’s not totally clear — though Ellison went on to reference “bringing the platforms together.”
“Casey [Bloys, HBO] and his team do absolutely a remarkable job,” Ellison concluded. “We do plan for that to be able to operate with independence, so that HBO can, candidly, do what it does incredibly well. Our viewpoint is HBO should stay HBO. 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.”
HBO has a vast catalog of content, from Game of Thrones to Succession and The Last of Us to The Pitt, plus an array of older series such as The Wire, The Sopranos, Sex and the City and True Detective. Notably, the company also has plans for a Baldur’s Gate TV show. Paramount+, meanwhile, is home to Star Trek and South Park.
Last week, Netflix dramatically walked away from the Warner Bros. bidding war, leaving Paramount as the victor — if its own deal passes the approval of regulators.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
