After what was a hard fought and sometimes rocky pursuit, Paramount on Tuesday officially closed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, bringing together two major Hollywood media companies to create the newly formed Skydance entity.
Finally striking a deal earlier this year in March, Paramount at the time bested Netflix in its quest for WBD and last month successfully secured a settlement after an antitrust lawsuit brought on by 12 state attorneys general over the summer threatened the merger.
With the deal now completed, the combined Skydance company brings together two major film studios, TV assets and cable networks like CBS, HBO, TBS, TNT, HGTV, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Network and BET; news networks including CNN and CBS News, deep programming libraries alongside live sports and well-known brands and franchises; and two major streaming services with SVODs Paramount+ and HBO Max, as well as discovery+ and free streamer Pluto TV.
As part of its settlement agreement, Paramount committed the new Skydance to deliver a minimum of 30 theatrical films per year. The combined company also boasts output of 180-plus TV shows and series.
Per the announcement, Skydance’s aim is to “to build the next-generation global media and entertainment company powered by creativity and technology.”
“Today is a historic day, not just for Skydance but for our entire industry. From the start, our ambition was to bring these two storied studios together and create a stronger competitor, with the talent, resources, and reach to tell great stories in every genre, on every platform, for audiences everywhere. Now that ambition is a reality,” stated Skydance Co-CEO and Chairman David Ellison. “Our focus now turns to the future: building a company that empowers creatives, entertains audiences and rewards shareholders. We couldn't be more excited to get to work."
Ellison last week announced former Mattel chief Ynon Kreiz as co-CEO of Skydance, tasked with overseeing day-to-day operations and integration of the businesses.
Through the combination, Skydance is targeting at least $6 billion in run-rate synergies within three years. It also intends to transition the meaningful majority of revenue and profits to its Direct-to-Consumer and Studios segments by 2030.
Creating a combined single streamer with scale
As Paramount and WBD come together to create Skydance, plans also call for the eventual unification of the combined company’s direct-to-consumer streamers into a single service.
A presentation for investors noted plans for “significant” investments and improvements to DTC streaming products as a focus on technology and innovations is one of the core priorities guiding the combined company and aims to quicken the path to global scale with a unified service.
Early last year before its sale process, former WBD leadership David Zaslav touted the global nature and appeal of HBO Max content and product with international audiences as a differentiator for the streaming service.
Skydance now counts more than 200 million streaming subscribers across SVODs Paramount+, HBO Max, discovery+ and FAST service Pluto TV, with a presence in more than 100 countries and territories.
Per Skydance, Paramount+ currently has approximately 82 million subscribers, while Antenna estimates put its U.S. paid base at 34.5 million as of August 2026 including an estimated 12.8 million U.S. ad-supported subscribers.
According to Antenna, in the U.S., Paramount+ had a churn rate of 5.97% as of August, with churn in the past year ranging from a high of 6.5% in January 2026 to a low of 4.7% in December 2025.
Skydance’s presentation for investors noted that globally, Paramount+ recently marked its No. 1 best quarter for retention in the SVOD’s history.
As for HBO Max, Antenna estimates there are 28.3 million paid subscribers in the U.S. as of August, including 12.9 million ad-supported. HBO Max’s estimated churn rate as of August was lower than Paramount+ at 4.5% - marking the lowest for the SVOD that Antenna has observed since January 2024.
But bringing the two services into one will likely mean cannibalizing at least some U.S. streaming subscribers, as there’s overlap between HBO Max and Paramount+.
Antenna estimates that in the U.S. there are 7.5 million subscribers who have both HBO Max and Paramount+, representing more than a quarter (26.7%) of HBO Max U.S. subscribers and 21.9% of Paramount+ U.S. subscribers.
By combining the streamers the new Skydance aims to better compete against the likes of Netflix and tech giants with video platforms and streaming plays of their own like Google and Amazon, among others.
The presentation deck also called out building an integrated streaming platform with improved tech-forward capabilities to deliver a superior user experience.
From a content perspective, Skydance said growth will be fueled by disciplined and strategic $30 billion in annual content investment as it looks to deliver new storytelling as well as champion iconic franchises and IP like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, DC Comics, and others.
And the new Skydance company has ambitions to capitalize and deliver storytelling and world building across a wide spectrum of entertainment verticals and touchpoints, spanning movies, TV shows, games, short-form and social, audio, experiential and consumer products.