Paramount agrees Warner Bros Discovery takeover

Paramount has agreed a takeover of Warner Bros Discovery in a deal valued at around $111 billion, subject to regulatory approval.

Plans have already been outlined to combine Paramount+ and HBO Max into a single streaming service, although the HBO brand would remain independent.

The deal is expected to close by Q3 2026, with both platforms continuing to operate separately in the meantime.

Illustration: Choose.co.uk

$111 billion takeover deal

Paramount has agreed to acquire Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) in a deal valued at around $111 billion.

If completed, the takeover would place HBO, CNN, Warner Bros film studios, DC Comics, Discovery, and TNT Sports under the same ownership as Paramount Pictures, the Paramount+ streaming service, and television networks including CBS, Nickelodeon, and MTV.

The agreement follows a competitive process in which Netflix had previously agreed a deal at $27.75 per share, valuing the transaction at around $82-83 billion.

Paramount challenged aspects of that agreement in court before submitting a higher $31-per-share bid, which WBD's board judged superior. Netflix declined to match it and withdrew, receiving a $2.8 billion break fee from WBD in the process.

Subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close by 30 September 2026. Under the terms agreed, WBD shareholders will receive a $0.25 per share ticking fee for each quarter the deal remains open beyond that date.

Paramount+ joins HBO Max

Paramount CEO David Ellison has already outlined plans to combine Paramount+ and HBO Max into a single streaming service if the acquisition completes.

For UK viewers, the timing is notable. HBO Max is due to launch in the UK on 26 March - just weeks after the takeover was announced - and Sky Atlantic is arriving on Virgin Media for the first time in April. Both were agreed before the merger and neither is affected by it - so for now, where you watch HBO content isn't changing.

Ellison has said the combined HBO Max and Paramount+ platforms have over 200 million subscribers across more than 100 countries, though the two services reported 78.9 million and 131.6 million respectively at the end of 2024, suggesting the headline figure may include some overlap. In comparison, Netflix surpassed 325 million paid subscribers at the end of 2025.

Ellison has also indicated that while the two apps would likely merge, content produced under the HBO banner would continue to carry the HBO name - so shows like The Last of Us or The White Lotus would still be HBO productions. A combined platform would also bring together Paramount's film catalogue and franchises alongside TNT Sports, which is already in the process of moving from discovery+ to HBO Max for UK subscribers.

For now, both Paramount+ and HBO Max will continue to operate as normal until the deal closes.

The bigger the platform, the more it starts to look like pay TV

The Paramount takeover of Warner Bros Discovery is the latest sign that streaming is consolidating into a small number of very large platforms - and for consumers, that cuts both ways.

Fewer services means less juggling, fewer passwords and potentially simpler billing. But as platforms absorb more content, subscribers increasingly end up paying for vast catalogues they will never fully use - which is precisely the complaint that drove many people away from traditional pay TV in the first place.

When HBO Max launched in the UK, I noted that its tiered content model - placing newer films behind higher-priced plans - looked less like a pricing experiment and more like an early sign of where streaming was heading. A merger that combines HBO, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros films, DC and TNT Sports under a single platform makes that pattern harder to ignore.

The result is a familiar dynamic. Instead of paying for content you don't want, you pay more to unlock the specific content you do. The decision shifts from choosing which service to subscribe to, to choosing which tier gives you access to the shows you actually came for.

The deeper irony is that streaming set out to disrupt pay TV by offering simplicity and value. The more it consolidates, the more it resembles the thing it replaced - a large package, most of which you'll never watch, with the best content sitting just one upgrade away.