HBO Max Paramount+ bundle? Bloys cites 1 huge Disney success

Casey Bloys would not say whether he is about to run Paramount+. But on stage at Bloomberg’s Screentime conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 1, the HBO chief dropped a clear hint that an HBO Max Paramount+ bundle could be on the table once Paramount Skydance’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery closes Oct. 6.

Asked whether the two streamers would combine into one service, Bloys said he did not want to comment on what will happen. “But I would point to the HBO Max-Disney bundle, which has been very successful,” he said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “So could you see something like that happening? That would make a lot of sense.”

What an HBO Max Paramount+ bundle could mean

Bloys did not commit to a timeline or say whether a bundle is imminent, Variety noted, and he did not rule out a full merger of the apps.

The difference matters to subscribers. A bundle sells separate services together, usually at a discount, while a merger folds two catalogs into one app. Warner Bros. Discovery took the second route in 2023, when it combined HBO Max and Discovery+ programming into a single service called Max.

That experience shapes how Bloys talks about an HBO Max Paramount+ bundle now. Research with current and potential subscribers showed they wanted movies, HBO, drama, comedy and documentaries, and “they just weren’t feeling some of the other stuff,” he said. He credited a company strategy officer with the line “You have to give subscribers what they want, not what you own.”

Sheridan dramas and ‘South Park’ on HBO?

Bloys pushed back on the idea that Taylor Sheridan’s Paramount+ dramas would clash with HBO’s brand in an HBO Max Paramount+ bundle. People who watch HBO “tend to be consumers of television and that doesn’t just mean HBO,” he said.

He pointed to “South Park,” which he called one of the big properties at Paramount+ and which once streamed on HBO Max. It did so well there, he said, that HBO “sued them” when it was pulled.

‘Not mine to announce’

Bloys also sidestepped questions about his own job. Paramount streaming chief Cindy Holland announced her exit this week, and Bloys is widely expected to oversee the combined streaming business that would run any HBO Max Paramount+ bundle.

“I believe that David [Ellison] and the team want to announce their leadership structure, it’s not mine to announce,” he said, according to Variety. TheWrap reported a blunter exchange: “Not mine to confirm. Deal is not closed,” Bloys said. “But obviously, you know, yes.”

Our earlier report explains why Bloys is set to lead the combined streaming strategy.

What Ellison means for HBO

Bloys said he has had conversations with Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, who “is very, very excited, very respectful of what the HBO team has done.” Mattel’s Ynon Kreiz has been named co-CEO. No HBO Max Paramount+ bundle has been announced.

Previous owners have arrived “wanting to maintain what we’ve done,” Bloys told the audience. “And I really believe that he will do that.”

For more on the deal, read about Ynon Kreiz’s new co-CEO role, the Paramount-WBD merger approval and our latest TV and streaming news.