Skydance targets unified Paramount+ and HBO Max tech stack within a year
November 10, 2026 11.43 Europe/London By Julian Clover


Skydance plans to bring Paramount+ and HBO Max onto a common technology stack within roughly a year, making platform integration a central part of its merger programme following the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Speaking on the company’s third-quarter earnings call, chief executive David Ellison said experience gained from integrating Pluto TV and BET+ with Paramount+, alongside AI development tools, would accelerate the work. That earlier integration took around 18 months.

The technology programme extends beyond streaming, covering broadcast infrastructure, enterprise systems and overlapping technology teams. Co-chief executive Ynon Kreiz identified at least $1.4 billion in annual technology savings.

The wider integration targets at least $6 billion in annual savings within three years, including $2.2 billion from corporate overheads and property, $1 billion from marketing and $1.4 billion from procurement.

Ellison also said the group favoured building a predominantly direct customer business, while retaining distribution partnerships where they provide additional reach. Ea

The first step will be a Paramount+ and HBO Max bundle in early 2027, ahead of a fully unified offering. The back-end integration target is within a year of the October 6 merger completion.

Skydance says Pluto TV’s migration onto the Paramount+ platform across major devices is largely complete. A shared back end is intended to reduce operating costs, accelerate product development and provide common personalisation and monetisation capabilities.

The group reported 203 million aggregate subscribers across Paramount+, HBO and HBO Max, alongside approximately 75 million Pluto TV monthly active users. The subscription total excludes Discovery+ and does not remove overlap between services.

Paramount+ ended September with 82.2 million subscribers, up from 81.6 million in June and approximately 6% ahead year-on-year.

However, Skydance will stop publishing quarterly subscriber figures from Q4, shifting its reporting towards financial performance, engagement and selected milestones. This is a common trait among streaming platforms; we’ll get the good times, though not necessarily the bad.

The reported third-quarter financial results cover Paramount Skydance before the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, which closed after the quarter ended.

Paramount Skydance revenue increased 5% to $7 billion, with adjusted EBITDA of $1 billion. Paramount+ revenue rose 21%, supported by approximately 14% growth in average revenue per user.