Bloys takes charge of new streaming business, platform may take bundling route

　　The merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery Group is in the final stages, and new streaming management arrangements have been announced.On October 5, Kathy Bloys, the former head of HBO and HBO Max, was appointed co-chairman and chief content officer of Skydance’s consumer streaming business.He has previously talked about the future of HBO Max and Paramount+ in public events, believing that a similar bundled subscription approach is reasonable, but has not yet announced a specific integration plan for the two services.

Bloys was asked at Bloomberg's 2026 Screentime event if he would get the top streaming job at the new company.He did not confirm it at the time, reasoning that the merger had not yet been completed and the management structure should be announced by David Ellison and his team.The personnel arrangements announced a few days later provide formal new developments on this issue.

Under the new appointment, Bloys is responsible for the streamer’s content direction.JB Perrette serves as co-chairman and chief commercial officer of Skydance’s television business and consumer streaming business.Their positions involve content and business operations respectively. Future program development, service operations and user business will need to be coordinated in a new management relationship.

Ellison serves as chairman and CEO of the new company, with former Mattel head Enon Kreitz serving as co-CEO.The combined company's main businesses include two movie studios, television networks and streaming media, with each division reporting to the two co-leaders.This structure puts businesses that originally belonged to different groups under the same management system.

The film business is led by Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein, who previously served as co-chairmen of Paramount Pictures.Pamela Abdi and Michael De Luca, the original heads of Warner's film division, did not join the new company.The TV department also announced new job assignments, indicating that this adjustment has gone beyond the personnel handover of a single platform.

The specific question that users are more concerned about is how HBO Max and Paramount+ will appear.After a company-level merger, the two services may retain their respective brands and be sold together through combined subscriptions, or other arrangements may be adopted.Bloys' previous answer provided a direction he recognized, but did not give a launch date, price or final product name.

The example he cited was the bundled service between HBO Max and Disney, and said that this cooperation has been successful.With combined subscriptions, different content services can be put into the same purchase plan, users get more content choices, and the platform attracts or retains subscribers through cooperation.The two services are jointly sold and can also retain their original viewing entrances.

Bundling services together and turning the entire business into a new platform involve different tasks in terms of technology, branding and usage.The former first solves the problem of how users purchase, and the latter will also involve further integration of content libraries, accounts, recommendations and applications.Bloys thinks bundling makes sense, but the company still needs to announce how it will be implemented.

Therefore, it is not yet possible to tell existing subscribers that their accounts must be migrated or that a certain platform will be retired.Management appointments spell out who is responsible for the business, while user-side changes require another set of clear announcements.Subscription fees, processing of existing packages and viewing range of works are all based on the final service arrangement.

When talking about HBO's creative tradition, Bloys said that his communication with Ellison made him feel that the other party respects the team's past work and respects HBO's history over the years.Ellison expressed excitement about the brand and hopes to continue what it has done well.This statement corresponds to the attitude of the two parties in the exchange, and the specific program strategy will be reflected in subsequent development.

For film and television creators, continuity in content management has practical implications.A drama series requires long-term cooperation from scripting and casting to filming and broadcasting. The person in charge stays and enters the new structure, which helps the team continue to communicate on existing projects.At the same time, the combined budget, resource allocation and cross-departmental cooperation will also create new working conditions.

The acquisition agreement was reached in February 2026, with a transaction value of US$111 billion.After regulatory procedures in multiple countries, the settlement of related antitrust lawsuits was approved, allowing the merger to move forward toward closing.The new company's common stock plans to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SKYD” on October 6.

The new entity will also assume net debt expected to exceed US$80 billion, making operating arrangements and cost management important issues during the integration process.For viewers, the first changes that can be perceived are content and services: who is responsible for new programs, which works continue to be developed, and how subscription products are combined.The personnel list has been finalized, and answers at the platform level still need to wait for specific plans.