Casey Bloys Hints that HBO Max Will Be Bundled With Paramount+

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s Casey Bloys, who oversees HBO’s programming and the HBO Max streaming service, declined to discuss his new role as his company moves closer to being acquired by Paramount Skydance Corp, but hinted broadly at how the competing streaming services might coexist.

“I would point to the HBO Max-Disney bundle, which has been very successful,” Bloys said at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles on Thursday. “So could you see something like that happening? That would make a lot of sense.”

Warner Bros. is expected to undergo major changes after it merges with Paramount, including the consolidation of streaming platforms HBO Max and Paramount+. Bloys is poised to oversee the merged streaming operations following the departure of Paramount streaming chief Cindy Holland on Tuesday.

Paramount recently reached a settlement in antitrust lawsuits filed by twelve state attorneys general and the Writers Guild labor union, which included conditions such as Paramount agreeing to distribute 30 films per year in theaters. The deal faced major opposition in Hollywood, which has concerns that it will result in less competition and fewer jobs in the entertainment industry.

After becoming president of HBO’s programming in 2016, Bloys oversaw hit shows like the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon, the vacation-themed drama The White Lotus and the apocalyptic thriller The Last of Us. In 2020, he also assumed responsibility for content on HBO Max, which aims to have more than 150 million subscribers by the end of the year.

Bloys will help launch a television series inspired by the Harry Potter books in December. As one of HBO’s most highly anticipated and ambitious projects, the show includes a star-studded cast and a plan to release a season of the show for each of the series’ seven books over the next decade.