Casey Bloys Indicates HBO Max and Paramount+ More Likely to Be Bundled Than Combined

Casey Bloys is not prepared to say much about the near-term future of HBO under Paramount — it’s simply not his news to announce, he said (several times) on Thursday.

To everyone else in the industry, Bloys is poised to lead the combined streaming efforts of HBO (and Discovery) and Paramount. To make room, the former Paramount+ and Pluto TV chief Cindy Holland is leaving; Bloys still has a year remaining on his Warner Bros. Discovery deal.

Bloys was asked about what’s to come once Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery combine, which is set to happen all of five days from now. Like, for starters, is he getting the top streaming job?

“Obviously there was news this week, and obviously there’s news across the board. I will say that the merger is not closed,” Bloys responded. “I believe that David (Ellison) and the team want to announce their leadership structure — it’s not mine to announce, so I don’t have any news for you to confirm.”

OK, fine, but what happens to the streaming platforms themselves? Will HBO Max and Paramount+ combine?

“I would say that I don’t want to comment on what is going to happen or anything like that, but I would point to the HBO Max-Disney bundle, which has been very successful,” Bloys said.

“So could you see something like that happening? That would make a lot of sense,” he asked and then answered.

The Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger is expected to close on Oct. 6. Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz will join the combined company as co-CEO. Ellison is presently the CEO of Paramount Skydance; Bloys does not believe either man is out to change what the best brand in prestige TV has done for decades.

“I’ve had conversations with David, and he is very, very excited, very respectful of what the HBO team has done — not just in my tenure — but the entire history of HBO, and he’s excited,” Bloys said. “So I think, as in all of the owners that we have had, we have had people come in genuinely excited and wanting to maintain what we’ve done, and I believe that he will do that.”