What’s going to happen to all my favorite TV shows and movies?
Paramount has joined forces with Warner Bros. Discovery, prompting questions about what the mega-deal means for the likes of HBO and CNN.
Skydance, David Ellison’s new entertainment giant, is now home to HBO, HBO Max, CNN, CBS, Paramount+, Pluto TV, the Warner Bros. studio, Paramount Pictures, and cable networks like TNT and HGTV.
That portfolio of assets is poised to make Skydance a powerhouse that could challenge Disney and Netflix in streaming while boasting the premium, historic IP that Google’s YouTube doesn’t have.
Below is a breakdown of what Skydance has said about how it will approach movies, streaming, traditional TV, and news — both publicly and in private meetings with employees.
Streaming: An HBO-Paramount super app is coming, eventually
Although Ellison has said that HBO Max and Paramount+ will eventually become a unified service, that won’t happen immediately.
Skydance will build a tech platform that supports both streamers “as quickly as we possibly can,” Ellison told employees in a town hall on Wednesday, since he said operating multiple separate streaming stacks is “inefficient and just not the best way you’d want to build it.”
“That allows you to build better personalization systems, better recommendation systems, allows you to monetize better,” Ellison told staffers.
It’s unclear what this supercharged streamer would be called, or how much it would cost a month.
The standard ad-free version of HBO Max costs $18.49 a month compared to $13.99 for Paramount+, while the ad versions are $10.99 and $8.99, respectively.
While Skydance builds its streaming super app, it will create a bundle that lets consumers get both services at a discount, similar to how Disney offers its Disney+ and Hulu bundle.
Ellison talked about creating a “mutual ingest bundle” that would make HBO Max and Paramount+ content available to bundle customers in both apps, which he said would be a “really, really powerful” offering.
“Because the Paramount-WBD deal was financed with a massive amount of debt, it’s hard to imagine that streaming price hikes aren’t in Skydance’s future,” said media analyst Mike Proulx of Forrester. Skydance must pay down about $80 billion in debt.
Skydance’s streaming business will be run by Casey Bloys, the HBO chief, after Paramount streaming head Cindy Holland stepped down.
News: CNN and CBS will be separate brands, for now
Ellison seems set on keeping CNN running as a separate brand, despite speculation about a merger with Bari Weiss’ CBS News.
CNN CEO Mark Thompson is staying at the network, and Ellison said at Wednesday’s town hall that he won’t interfere in news coverage.
He said the network will have “complete editorial independence.”
Ellison told employees Skydance wants to help CNN “scale and transition the business digitally.” The news giant already offers a $6.99-per-month subscription for a live TV feed and full access to its site.
When asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper at the town hall how CNN and CBS could work together, Ellison said he’s still figuring out the details but suggested the two news networks will come together in some way, whether by sharing resources or talent.
“You can only be so smart from the outside looking in,” Ellison said, adding that “within, usually, 120 days,” new leaders should “be able to start to make those decisions.”
Movies: There will be a steady stream of films in theaters
Skydance seems set to keep film output steady.
Ellison’s company has promised to put 30 movies in theaters in both 2027 and 2028, and 32 films a year in 2029, 2030, and 2031. About two-thirds of those movies must be wide releases, as part of Skydance’s settlement with the 12 states suing to stop its deal, and at least four a year must be independent films.
Warner Bros. has 15 films on its theatrical schedule this year, as does Paramount Pictures. That’s compared to 11 and eight in 2025 for Warner Bros. and Paramount, respectively.
Skydance has also promised not to sell the Warner Bros. or Paramount Pictures lots until at least 2032. Ellison said on Tuesday that one lot could host film production, while the other could host TV production.
Skydance wants to “cherish and celebrate” its film studios and “keep their identity very strong,” co-CEO Ynon Kreiz said at the town hall.
TV: It’s business as usual for the next few years
When settling the lawsuit from the states, Skydance promised to separately negotiate rates for its cable channels and those of WBD through 2031. Otherwise, it could be forced to divest assets like BET.
That pledge should help maintain the status quo in the pay-TV world, since the combined company won’t be able to gain as much leverage on distributors like Comcast, Charter, or YouTube TV.
Without that clause, Skydance could have tried to secure higher rates for Paramount channels like MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon by threatening to withhold WBD networks like CNN, TruTV, and The Food Network.
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