Could Max end up merging with Paramount+?

First Max absorbed Discovery+, then Paramount+ absorbed Showtime, and now there’s talk that Max and Paramount+ might merge. 

Triggering the scuttlebutt was a Manhattan meeting Tuesday between David Zaslav, CEO of Max parent Warner Bros. Discovery, and Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish to “discuss a possible merger,” Axios reports. 

Among the topics of discussion was how Max and Paramount+ “could merge to better rival Netflix and Disney+,” according to the Axios story. 

The merger talks are “still early” and might not go anywhere, and even if they did, any possible merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global would be subject to regulatory scrutiny and take months to complete.  

That said, the meeting of the two CEOs means the possibility of a merger between the two media giants has gone beyond the “wouldn’t it be interesting” phase. And as the Axios story points out, Paramount Global is under “enormous pressure” to make a deal given its “mountain of debt.” 

It’s too early to tell what a merged Max and Paramount+ might look like, assuming it actually happens. Would we end up with a “Max with Paramount+” service? Would Max simply gobble up all Paramount+’s content, or (much less likely) vice versa?  

Good question, but however it shakes out, we can be sure that we’ll see more consolidation in the streaming market, and that will mean fewer choices for cord cutters as well as higher prices. 

This year alone, we saw HBO Max—now just Max—merge with Discovery+, and that led to Max raising its prices. (There’s still a standalone Discovery+, although Discovery+ recently raised its prices, too.) 

Then Paramount+ completed its merger with Showtime, which led to yet another round of price increases. 

Earlier this month, Disney+ kicked off its beta for a “one-app experience” with Hulu, just a few months after both services hiked their prices. The plan, for now, is for Hulu to stick around as a standalone app, but could Disney+ eventually gobble up Hulu in its entirety? There is, as they say, a non-zero probability. 

It’s interesting to note that a year ago, the smart money was on Peacock parent Comcast acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, and that Comcast would then merge the struggling Peacock with Max. 

But while the Max-Peacock merger is looking less and less likely, the streaming consolidation game won’t be ending anytime soon—and indeed, it may be heating up going into 2024.