Acquisitions and mergers have become the norm in the entertainment industry over the past several years. Following Skydance Media’s acquisition of Paramount earlier this year, the takeover battle for Warner Bros. has begun. Discovery, which owns HBO and HBO Max, in late 2025. Now that Netflix is out of the competition, does this mean HBO Max subscribers should expect a price increase soon?
less, Hollywood life Reveals how the Warner Bros. merger could impact… With Paramount on HBO Max subscribers.
Did Netflix buy Warner Bros?
Netflix announced its deal with Warner Bros. to acquire the latter in a press release dated December 5, 2025. Co-CEO of Netflix, Greg Peters“The Warner Bros. buyout is going to get better,” he said [Netflix’s] Delivering and accelerating our business for decades to come.
“Warner Bros. has helped define entertainment for more than a century, and continues to do so through its incredible creative executives and production capabilities,” Peters added. “With our global reach and proven business model, we can introduce a broader audience to the worlds they create – giving our members more choice, attracting more fans to our best-in-class streaming service, strengthening the entire entertainment industry and creating more value for shareholders.”
Co-CEO of Netflix Ted Sarandos “Together, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling,” he noted.
However, Paramount Skydance eventually beat out Netflix after Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison A hostile takeover began.
Did Paramount buy Warner Bros?
Yes, according to Paramount Skydance, the company beat out Netflix in February 2026 to acquire Warner Bros. On February 27, 2026, the company issued a news release announcing that it had “entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Paramount will acquire WBD, forming a leading global media and entertainment company focused on expanding consumer choice and empowering creative talent around the world.”
Who owns HBO and HBO Max?
Warner Bros. owns Discovery is currently HBO and HBO Max.
Will the price of my HBO Now subscription go up?
As of now, HBO Max remains the same price, starting at $10.99 per month with ads.
Will HBO Max disappear?
Netflix wasn’t planning to remove HBO or HBO Max. Instead, the streaming giant said in its news release: “By adding deep libraries of movies and TV shows and HBO and HBO Max programming, Netflix members will have more high-quality titles to choose from.”
However, now that Paramount is taking over, the company said it plans to merge Paramount+ with Pluto and HBO.
