Everything we know about the plan to combine HBO Max and Paramount+

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

Paramount Chairman David Ellison laid out his vision for taking over Warner Bros.Discovery, including combining the two streaming services — HBO Max and Paramount+, which together boast more 200 million subscribers.“The combination ...

really puts us in a position to be able to compete with all the leading players in the space,” Ellison said during a Monday morning investor call, which came after Paramount stunned the industry late last week by pulling off the $110-billion takeover, which Ellison and his team had pursued for six months.Ellison ticked off some of the popular franchises that Paramount, which owns “Mission: Impossible” and “Top Gun,” will inherit with Warner Bros., which has the rights to Harry Potter, “The Lord of the Rings,” DC Comics and “Game of Thrones.”Key to the success of the new giant will be propelling streaming growth so the firm can be more competitive with Netflix, which has 325 million subscribers worldwide; Walt Disney Co.; and Amazon Prime Video.The combined company also must manage its enormous portfolio of linear television networks, which would include Paramount’s CBS and Nickelodeon and Warner Bros.’ CNN, TNT, and the Food Network.

Hollywood Inc.The Ellisons and their team began plotting their comeback in December, the morning after Netflix clinched its deal to buy Warner Bros.Industrywide, cable channels have been losing steam amid the migration to streaming.

Paramount relies heavily on cable channel profits to pay down debt and said Monday there were no plans to sell any cable channels.Early in its tenure, Warner Bros.

Discovery resisted calls to sell CNN, saying it was important to its portfolio.The combination of the two streaming services will not be immediate.

Warner Bros.Discovery shareholders must approve the Paramount deal, which also needs to win the blessing of international regulators.

Germany and Slov...