Heres what the massive Paramount-Warner Bros. deal could mean for your favorite shows and movies from Star Trek to The Pitt

Larry and David Ellison of Paramount Skydance are poised to control a behemoth media empire if their winning bid for Warner Bros.Discovery gains regulatory approval – adding HBO, CNN and thousands of movie titles to Paramount, CBS and the film rights they already own.The deal would put HBO Max, its nearly 130 million subscribers and shows like “The Pitt” and “Heated Rivalry” under the same roof as Paramount+, which has 79 million customers and the “Mission: Impossible” and “Star Trek” franchises, alongside recent hits like “1923” and “Landman.”The companies promised to be a “Hollywood champion” that would expand “both consumer choice and opportunities for creative talent and labor” in a Friday statement trumpeting the merger.It’s unclear if the Ellisons intend to fold HBO Max, the country’s fourth-largest streamer, and Paramount+, the fifth, into a single platform — a move like what Netflix had signaled it might pursue, arguing that it would offer customers more bang for the buck.Another option would be to mimic Disney’s model, which lets customers sign up for Disney+ and Hulu in bundles or à la carte – a more flexible approach that could potentially ease regulatory scrutiny on the Paramount-WBD deal.“My guess is that they will keep them separate, and that they would create package deals for consumers because what you’re gonna want is a primary buy and then to lock up the secondary buy from consumers,” Derek Reisfield, a former media executive at CBS News and McKinsey, and co-founder of MarketWatch, told The Post.It’s unlikely that the streamers will hike prices, since it’s “more about getting market share in consumers’ wallets and making life difficult for other streamers,” he added.
Sign up to receive On The Money by Charlie Gasparino in your inbox every Thursday.Please provide a valid email.
By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy....