NEW YORK (AP) — HBO Max, “Harry Potter” and NCS could quickly discover themselves below a new roof: Paramount.
That’s as a result of shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery on Thursday voted to sell the entire business to the corporate that owns CBS, together with blockbusters like “Top Gun.” Based on a preliminary vote count, Warner shareholders agreed to the proposed $81 billion buyout — valued at nearly $111 billion including debt based on Warner’s current outstanding shares.
While the deal still faces regulatory review, the megamerger would vastly reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape, further consolidating power in an industry already run by just a handful of major players. Paramount itself was acquired by Skydance just last year.
Here’s what a Paramount-Warner combo could look like for streaming, movies, news and more.
Streaming
Paramount Skydance would own both Paramount+ and, with the sale approved by shareholders Thursday, Warner’s HBO Max. Company executives have said that they would combine these streamers into one platform.
What that combined service would look like (or be named) is unclear. But Paramount CEO David Ellison suggested that HBO could still have some level of independence, at least production-wise.
“Our view point is, HBO should stay HBO,” Ellison mentioned throughout a convention name final month. “They built a phenomenal brand, they are a leader in this 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.”
Warner and its HBO streaming platform have a highly effective lineup that features “The Pitt,” “Game of Thrones” and “Sex and the City.” And beyond “Harry Potter,” Warner’s library lists blockbuster movies corresponding to “Sinners,” “Barbie” and “Superman” (the corporate additionally owns DC Studios). Titles like “Top Gun,” “Titanic,” “The Godfather” and “Yellowstone” fill Paramount’s catalog.
In the U.S., according to streaming guide JustWatch, HBO Max controlled about 12% of on-demand subscriptions in the first quarter of this year — compared to 3% for Paramount+. Combining those two services would still fall slightly below Prime Video’s 17% market share, and the 19% of the market commanded by Netflix. Disney owns about 27% of the market between Hulu and Disney+.
Beyond HBO Max, Paramount would also acquire Warner’s smaller Discovery+ streamer. And apart from Paramount+, Paramount owns Pluto TV and BET+, too.
Critics are skeptical of consumer benefits touted by Paramount. While company executives have continued to laud larger content libraries and the potential for Paramount to better compete with bigger rivals, a combination with Warner Bros. would mean fewer platform choices when it comes to streaming overall. Critics warn that could actually mean higher prices at a time when the price of almost all subscriptions continues to tick higher.
Moviemaking and theatrical releases
Paramount and Warner Bros. are two of Hollywood’s oldest studios. A merger would mean fewer companies control legacy film production.
Ellison has said the combined company to grow a slate to more than 30 movies a year, keeping Paramount and Warner Bros. as stand-alone operations. And in a star-studded CinemaCon appearance last week, he promised a 45-day exclusive window for films in theaters, pledging a “complete commitment” to the business.
Still, others are wary about what additional consolidation may mean for jobs and which tasks are greenlit down the highway. Regulatory filings have indicated that the brand new possession will probably be on the lookout for methods to chop prices — together with layoffs and downsizing some overlapping operations. Paramount is taking over billions of {dollars} in debt to finance the deal.
Warner Bros. simply had a banner 12 months of each main blockbusters and important successes. The studio racked up 30 Oscar nominations due to “Sinners,” “Weapons,” and “One Battle After Another” (which took home the highest greatest image slot). Paramount obtained zero. And in 2025, Warner Bros. motion pictures — together with “A Minecraft Movie,” “Superman” and “Sinners” — accounted for 21% of the home field workplace. Paramount’s market share was solely 6%, pushed largely by “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.”
The industry has already experienced a sizeable consolidation. Almost 10 years ago, Hollywood’s big six became the big five when Disney bought most of 20th Century Fox. And if the Warner sale goes through, a new “big four” era would be underway — with a bigger Paramount standing alongside Disney, Universal and Sony.
News
NCS would come under the same roof as Paramount-owned CBS. That would bring together two of America’s biggest names in television news, although whether NCS would continue to operate as a separate brand from CBS has yet to be confirmed.
Regardless, there is a lot of anxiety about Paramount taking control of NCS — a network that has long attracted ire from President Donald Trump and his allies. Critics point to Trump’s close relationship with the Ellison family, particularly billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who is putting up billions of dollars to back the bid by his son’s company.
Since coming under Skydance ownership less than a year ago, CBS has already seen significant shifts in editorial leadership. It’s taken steps to appeal to more conservative viewers in its news operations, notably with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News. If the company’s proposed Warner takeover is successful, many expect similar changes at NCS.
Some officials in the Trump administration have also made their opinions very clear about NCS’s future ownership. In March, the White House attacked NCS for its coverage of the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran — and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters that “the earlier David Ellison takes over that community, the higher.”
Ellison has mentioned that editorial independence “will absolutely be maintained” below Paramount possession. “It’s maintained at CBS. It’ll be maintained at NCS,” Ellison instructed CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” in March, whereas noting that his firm desires to talk to “the 70%” of viewers who he mentioned establish as center-left or center-right.
The performing head of the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division has additionally mentioned that its regulatory overview won’t be political. Still, critics are skeptical — significantly following Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount in August. That merger was approved by the Federal Communications Commission simply weeks after the corporate agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit over enhancing at CBS’ “60 Minutes” program. The president has continued to publicly lash out at “60 Minutes” programming since.
Other TV and cable networks
NCS is simply one of many cable operations that Warner is promoting. And the proposed merger would make Paramount’s TV footprint even greater.
The firm also owns Discovery, TNT, TBS, Food Network, Cartoon Network and Animal Planet, amongst different networks — all of which would come below Paramount possession if the deal goes by. Meanwhile, Paramount already has its personal sizeable broadcast lineup. Beyond CBS, that features Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Showtime and extra.