The Paramount+ and HBO Max integration might have looked easy on paper, but there is more to it than meets the eye, as plans could change drastically.
HBO Max, which is home to shows like The Pitt, Industry, Euphoria, and more, will potentially be in a new home come 2027, as several industry-leading analysts predict a full shutdown. Following the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance in March 2026, HBO Max is set to merge with Paramount+. The streamer has high hopes for the combined entities, unlike some analysts.
“We expect HBO Max to essentially be shut down at the end of 2027,” MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman wrote in a research note this week, via Brian Steinberg of Variety in a post on X. Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance’s Chairman and CEO David Ellison shared with The Hollywood Reporter that “We … plan to put the two services together, which today gives us a little over 200 million direct to consumer subscribers. We think that really positions us to compete with the leaders in the space. The combined offering, 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.”
Dan Rayburn, a streaming media expert, reacted to Ellison’s claims, noticing the CEO’s wording in his statement. “You’ll notice, though, [Ellison] didn’t use the word ‘combining.’ There’s a reason for that. And the reason for that is he doesn’t even know himself, because the work required if you want to combine services is so extensive and so unknown at this time.” While Rayburn attempted to make a point by calling out Ellison’s statement with the word “combining,” the CEO did, in fact, use it in his explanation. Rayburn also predicts the harsh reality of the media landscape, which, in fact, has impacted several institutions across the sector.
If HBO Max were to be shut down, Rayburn forecasts layoffs: “There’s gonna be a lot of layoffs. We know that. So if you lay off a whole bunch of people at one company over another that has expertise of the platform or how it worked… to figure all that out is extremely time consuming.” Ultimately, Rayburn suggests that the merger is “too new” to “contemplate how you can merge two streaming services of that size together. There’s no way you would know.”
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Given these realities of the massive logistical undertaking behind putting Paramount+ and HBO Max together, subscribers are left with many unanswered questions, and uncertainty about whether the future mega streaming platform is possible. This comes as HBO Max continues to expand with more DC shows, a television adaptation of the Harry Potter books, numerous Game of Thrones spinoffs, The Last of Us season 3, and The White Lotus season 4. The futures of these series and franchises may be impacted by whether Paramount+ and HBO Max can become one streaming platform.
The unknowns are further compounded by the fact that the Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery merger has yet to be legally finalized. There is a still a chance that it will not go through, especially amid antitrust concerns, and with there being a lack of clarity around how the merger will fully affect the studios’ streaming platforms and the theatrical industry. For now, Paramount+ and HBO Max remain their own streaming services.