HBO Max and Paramount+ To Merge Into One Streaming Service (washingtonpost.com) 55
Paramount Skydance plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single streaming platform following its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. "As we said, we do plan to put the two services together, which today gives us a little over 200 million direct-to-consumer subscribers," said David Ellison, the company's CEO. "We think that really positions us to compete with the leaders in the space." The deal still needs regulatory approval. The Washington Post reports: He added that Paramount didn't want to make changes to the HBO brand. "Our viewpoint is HBO should stay HBO," Ellison said, noting that his favorite HBO product is "Game of Thrones." If Justice Department regulators allow the deal to go through, it would place recent HBO Max hits, such as "The Pitt" and "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," alongside Paramount offerings including "South Park" and "Yellowstone." "They built a phenomenal brand," he said. "They are a leader in the space, and we just want them to continue doing more of it."
The deal to buy Warner Bros., valued at about $110 billion, will almost surely attract regulatory scrutiny from the Justice Department because -- without divestments -- it places major swaths of the film, television and news industries under one roof: Warner Bros. and Paramount studios, HBO Max and Paramount+, and CBS and CNN would all have the same parent company. Ellison expressed confidence on the call that the deal wouldn't face hurdles with regulators.
The deal to buy Warner Bros., valued at about $110 billion, will almost surely attract regulatory scrutiny from the Justice Department because -- without divestments -- it places major swaths of the film, television and news industries under one roof: Warner Bros. and Paramount studios, HBO Max and Paramount+, and CBS and CNN would all have the same parent company. Ellison expressed confidence on the call that the deal wouldn't face hurdles with regulators.
Grandfathered inor? (Score:4, Interesting)
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I have hbo (no commercials) included with my cell plan from back when AT&T owned HBO. They started charging and extra $10 for it some time ago, but it is still cheaper than if I were to get it separately. Are they going to kick me off now, too bad so sad? Up my price? Or honor the contract I signed all those years ago?
I got in on the end-of-year buy-in on Paramount+ last year. $60 for Paramount+ and Showtime, commercial free, for one year. I kinda wonder what they're gonna do with plans like mine. Do they merge services and let us keep accessing them, or just drop current contracts and make us take whatever price they decide the "new and improved" service is worth? Some "monthly fee of both put together" with a few cents knocked off to show the value of the merged service that some of us didn't want?
I'm just curious how
Re:Grandfathered inor? (Score:4, Funny)
I have hbo (no commercials) included with my cell plan from back when AT&T owned HBO. They started charging and extra $10 for it some time ago, but it is still cheaper than if I were to get it separately. Are they going to kick me off now, too bad so sad? Up my price? Or honor the contract I signed all those years ago?
I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.
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Offer everyone who has either of the old plans a subscription to the new merged service.
Which will cost more since it is "worth more" because both sides now have access to new content.
Anyone who doesn't want to pay more is free to quit.
This will create a bunch of new revenue for the merged service, or a mass exodus.
Please don't use Paramount+ Platform (Score:4, Insightful)
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Really hoping they don't use the Paramount+ platform going forward. It is by far the worst performing streaming application I have experienced. I have not used HBO Max, but it cannot be as bad as Paramount+. They should hire some programmers and make a proper application that runs quickly on the devices that run it. There should be nothing too complex about browsing lists and surfacing data quickly. Paramount+ is a failure and really frustrating to use compared to every other service, Netflix and Apple+ being the best in my opinion.
From my memory of a year and some change ago, HBO/Max/HBOMax/whatever they're calling it today was pretty terrible too. So, at least they'll be merging the two worst performing streamers.
Re:Please don't use Paramount+ Platform (Score:4, Interesting)
(+1, Truth)
Of all the major streaming platforms, Paramount+ stands alone in how often it just doesn't work. It doesn't work reliably on state-of-the-art streaming boxes. It doesn't work reliably on desktop PCs. In fact, of all the devices we have in our household, it works reliably on a total of zero of them.
We have several of the other commercial streaming platforms plus the apps or online services for several of our main national TV channels as well and almost all of them work almost all of the time. It's bizarre how bad Paramount+ manages to be compared to literally everyone else. It must be hurting their bottom line to some degree or surely will do soon if they don't get a handle on it, because why pay for something you literally can't watch?
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Really hoping they don't use the Paramount+ platform going forward. It is by far the worst performing streaming application I have experienced. I have not used HBO Max, but it cannot be as bad as Paramount+. They should hire some programmers and make a proper application that runs quickly on the devices that run it. There should be nothing too complex about browsing lists and surfacing data quickly. Paramount+ is a failure and really frustrating to use compared to every other service, Netflix and Apple+ being the best in my opinion.
When you say "platform" what do you mean?
The server uptime/latency?
Their Android app?
Their iOS app?
Their website?
The account/content settings available to users?
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Probably all of the above. Personally I have used it for streaming live content like a sports match, and the frame rates and resolution vary wildly during the match. I was watching football at a relatives house, and it was only on Paramount as the team was not local. At times it reminded of internet video in the 1990s.
The few times I have watched shows and movies on it, it was better but there were a few times it would crash during the stream. Getting back to the point where it dropped was a pain using the
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PEACOCK. Don't even try it, it's that bad.
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Definitely used to be back when it started.
It has been among the better performers in the last few years though.
Compared to Netflix and HBO, it's practically lightweight.
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If we would insist on standards then there wouldn't be a thread about crappy players. People would simply move on from them, and try player numbers 67, 68, 69, and then "nice, I like this one."
But nooooooooo, we wouldn't want standards like pirates get to have, so each proprietary file server gets its own unique, shitty, never-faced-off-against-any-competitors player.
The very idea that there is a Paramount player (is this company somehow known for its quality software?), is evidence we're in bearded Spock u
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Because if they force you to use their app they can spy on you and make sure you look at their ads.
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Spyware and ads are their motivation for railroading you into that software, but what's your motivation for accepting their ridiculous, bad-faith offer?
Hold the line: standards aren't optional! They are a requirement for the opening of my wallet.
If someone offers you an non-interoperative proprietary service with a single, non-optional, proprietary client, just say "No" like Nancy Reagan taught you, but pronounce it "Arrr!"
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I generally don't accept their offers, except when I feel it is necessary to express support in the only way they understand for something. Even then I'll just have something play with the screen and sound off, and use The Pirate Bay for the version I actually watch.
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By the end of Trump's 3rd term (Score:4, Insightful)
And Donald Trump litterally invented in an epic (Score:1, Insightful)
Fury mergers he is the father of mergers. Have you ever seen any mergers under Biden or Obama? Of course not.
Now please get rid of Trump and anybody obviously very very racist against China and especially Iran. Because of the Donald. His crazy tariff policies have already precipitated the whole world into the abyss. It's very very very unfair for China and Iran and now everybody rightfully hates America like everybody should be.
Trump's goal here along with the tariffs is to create a national sales tax so th
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Depending on what day you ask, there might, or might not, also be X.
Re: By the end of Trump's 3rd term (Score:3, Interesting)
And most of their content will still suck and everybody will be watching YouTube shows and movies produced by tiny studios with tiny budgets doing their effects with AI. No amount of mergers will make big content viable.
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PatriOracle (Score:4, Insightful)
The patriotic fervor of a fascist twat who thinks praising Dear Leader lifts his boat; news reports that would make Putin blush (more from embarrassment than excess, say what you will, dude knows how to suppress a polity), all backed by decades of the cash-extraction expertise Oracle has taught you to know and love.
Ask not what your teevee can do for you. Ask what your Teevee can do to your country.
Re: PatriOracle (Score:3)
It speaks to the propaganda going on out there that this got marked troll. At the end of the day, this will just make the streaming service as a propaganda, Outlet more than anything. You know it and I know it and everybody else knows it.
The REAL prize is CNN. It has a worldwide reach, and now it will be propaganda.
No, when terrible things happen in the United States? There will be literally no one to report on it to the wider world. You are now trapped and you donâ(TM)t even know it. That you means ev
Re: PatriOracle (Score:4, Insightful)
it places major swaths of the film, television and news industries under one roof: Warner Bros. and Paramount studios, HBO Max and Paramount+, and CBS and CNN would all have the same parent company.
I wouldn't be opposed to this merger as long as they divested themselves of CBS and CNN before approval. News organizations should not be consolidated to the point that we have no independent news available.
Concentrating all the news organizations under one editorial board presents the opportunity for one person's opinion becoming the only news that is broadcast, either right-leaning or left-leaning. We don't want all news organizations to become either clones of MSNBC or Fox News with nothing in between.
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Or more likely.. (Score:5, Insightful)
"will almost surely attract regulatory scrutiny from the Justice Department"
Seems much more likely it will almost surely attract luxurious gifts of cash to Trump and his associates.
Maybe a new StreamCoin ponzi?
Does that mean... (Score:2)
That Warner Bros content will disappear from Europe? HBO Max streaming isn't easily accessible in Europe.
This is the better alternative (Score:5, Interesting)
I gave up on streaming years ago and I don't think this will get me to go back.
But in terms of consolidation being bad for consumers, this does seem much, much, much better than Netflix buying HBO to me. If Netflix had bought HBO, it would be a year tops until Disney or Amazon bought Paramount.
A weird silver lining I haven't seen discussed, is Paramount and Waner Brothers both still put stuff out on physical media. You can buy DVDs of their shows and media, and I figured that would stop under Netflix, but hopefully it will continue for a while at least now.
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I gave up on streaming years ago and I don't think this will get me to go back.
But in terms of consolidation being bad for consumers, this does seem much, much, much better than Netflix buying HBO to me. If Netflix had bought HBO, it would be a year tops until Disney or Amazon bought Paramount.
A weird silver lining I haven't seen discussed, is Paramount and Waner Brothers both still put stuff out on physical media. You can buy DVDs of their shows and media, and I figured that would stop under Netflix, but hopefully it will continue for a while at least now.
Two failing companies merging just means Disney or Netflix will be able to snap up the remnants in a couple years for a song. Or maybe Amazon, don't wanna forget the other gorilla in the streaming world right now.
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Yeah, this just makes me think of the AOL/TimeWarner debacle.
I was not excited about absorbing the cost of a gigantic acquisition on my Netflix subscription.
Funniest thing I've heard all day (Score:2)
Don't worry, Crazy Larry won't own it long (Score:3)
It will be sold to the Saudis or China by this time next year. Probably the Saudis, since they've already had their hands in this deal.
He would like Game of Thrones (Score:2)
Now he has CG dragons... so who is he going to castrate or is this already the end with the prick nobody likes being in charge?
Yay! We're headed back to cable! (Score:5, Insightful)
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I, for one, can't wait to shell out $150/month for my new DisflixWarneluParamax+ streaming service!
Me too. Thank goodness we don’t have to pay cable prices anymore and can stream content for cheap.
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antitrust (Score:2)
Where is Antitrust law when it really matters?
Maybe European law could chime in?
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Where is Antitrust law when it really matters?
It's busy sipping caviar and eating champagne, in between sucking down massive piles of lead based paint chips.
Maybe European law could chime in?
See any story here about European law running into American company doings and the reactionary "OMG THOSE HORRIBLE FINING BASTARDS!" If we started patterning laws in the states after laws in Europe, we might start considering the general population to be made up of human beings, and we all know human beings have a net worth north of a billion dollars. That's a slippery slope we dare not consider.
regulatory scrutiny? (Score:3)
The deal to buy Warner Bros will almost surely attract regulatory scrutiny from the Justice Department
Nothing a ballroom donation wouldn't fix...
Oh, it's all about South Park. (Score:1)
Cable v2.0 (Score:2)
I'm ready to cut all the services and just stick with YouTube Premium. The services aren't kicking out good shows anymore and how many times can I watch Narcos? I can get most of the football games that I care about OTA with a $20 antenna. I guess I'll stick with Apple TV also. They have enough new stuff that I find interesting and now it includes soccer and F1. But if I can get past the AI created crap on YouTube, there is some interesting and informative channels out there.
Membership reconciliation (Score:2)
it's not stupid, it's capitalism (Score:1)
hahahaha sure why not. then there's only, what, two others left
Fantastic! (Score:2)