LOS ANGELES â Paramount has officially completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, creating a new entertainment giant called Skydance and bringing Warner Bros., HBO, CNN, CBS, DC, Nickelodeon, Paramount+ and HBO Max under the same corporate roof.
The deal, completed on October 6, 2026, valued Warner Bros. Discovery at about $81 billion in equity value and $110 billion in enterprise value. Warner Bros. Discovery shares have stopped trading, while the combined company’s Class B shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SKYD.
For viewers, one of the biggest changes is already becoming clearer: Skydance says its streaming products will eventually be unified into a single service, raising major questions about the long-term future of HBO Max and Paramount+ as separate platforms.
Skydance now controls some of Hollywood’s biggest brands
The scale of the new company is enormous. Skydance combines Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. alongside HBO, CBS, CNN, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, MTV, Comedy Central, Food Network, HGTV, BET and major sports operations including CBS Sports and TNT Sports.
Its franchise portfolio stretches from Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and the DC Universe to Top Gun, Mission: Impossible, SpongeBob SquarePants and The Godfather.
The combined business also starts with more than 200 million streaming subscribers across its platforms, giving Skydance considerably greater scale as it competes for viewers globally.
The change comes at a particularly closely watched moment for Warner Bros.’ superhero business. DC fans are assessing what the new ownership could mean for future projects, while developments surrounding The Batman Part II and Matt Reeves have already drawn attention.
HBO Max and Paramount+ are heading toward one service
The streaming question now has a clearer answer than it did before the merger closed.
Skydance said consumers should expect significant improvements to its direct-to-consumer products and confirmed that its streaming offerings will unify into a single service over time.
The company has not yet detailed exactly when that transition will happen, what the unified service will be called, how pricing will change or whether the HBO Max and Paramount+ brands will continue to exist separately in some markets.
Those details will matter to millions of subscribers as Skydance begins integrating two major streaming businesses and their technology, libraries and distribution operations.
David Ellison leads the newly created Skydance
David Ellison is chairman and CEO of Skydance, with former Mattel chief Ynon Kreiz serving as co-CEO.
Ellison called the closing a historic moment for the company and the entertainment industry, saying the goal is to build a stronger competitor with the resources and reach to produce stories across genres and platforms.
The combined company says it operates in more than 200 countries and territories and generates nearly $70 billion in revenue.
30 movies a year and more than 180 television shows
Skydance has committed to releasing at least 30 theatrical films annually, with each receiving a minimum 45-day theatrical window. The company also says its combined operation already includes more than 180 television shows and series.
The commitment comes after months of regulatory scrutiny surrounding the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition. Competition authorities covering nearly 70 jurisdictions ultimately cleared the transaction.
Skydance says it will continue commissioning programs from independent studios and licensing its own content to outside companies rather than keeping everything exclusively within its own platforms.
$6 billion savings target puts integration in focus
Another major issue will be how aggressively Skydance restructures the combined operation.
The company is targeting at least $6 billion in annual run-rate synergies within three years. Management says those savings are expected to come primarily from technology integration, procurement, marketing, corporate operations and real estate.
Skydance is also targeting more than $10 billion in free cash flow by 2030 and plans to reduce its net leverage to 3.0 times by the end of 2029.
That makes integration one of the biggest stories to watch as overlapping businesses, technology systems and corporate operations are brought together.
CNN and CBS News now share the same corporate parent
The transaction also creates an unusual concentration in American news media by placing CNN and CBS News within the same wider company.
That makes editorial independence and the future structure of both news organizations another closely watched part of the merger. A settlement reached before closing included the establishment of an editorial independence board covering CNN and CBS News.
SnyderVerse fans see a new opening at DC
The change of ownership has also energized some supporters of filmmaker Zack Snyder’s DC films, with fans again using #RestoreTheSnyderVerse on social media and calling for his version of the DC storyline to continue.
The campaign follows years of fan demands for sequels connected to Zack Snyder’s Justice League. However, Skydance has not announced Zack Snyder’s return or confirmed plans to restore the SnyderVerse, making the renewed campaign a fan-driven push rather than an announced DC strategy.
The immediate corporate direction is clearer. Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are no longer separate media companies: their studios, streaming businesses, television networks, news operations, sports rights and major franchises now sit inside Skydance Corporation.
For audiences, the next phase will be about execution â particularly how HBO Max and Paramount+ are combined, how Skydance handles its enormous franchise portfolio, and which changes viewers notice first.
Make Swikblog your go-to source on Google for reliable updates, smart insights, and daily trends.
