HBO Max and Discovery Plus Will Combine After WarnerMedia’s Merger With Discovery

    
    AT&T is merging its WarnerMedia assets with Discovery’s.
    Sarah Tew/CNET
    

    The ever-expanding streaming wars will contract ever so slightly when WarnerMedia’s pending $43 billion merger with Discovery goes through. On Monday it was revealed that the two companies plan to combine their respective streaming services — HBO Max and Discovery Plus — when the companies unite.?
    The news, spotted by Variety, was revealed by Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels at Deutsche Bank’s 30th Annual Media, Internet and Telecom Conference. Wiedenfels is set to become the CFO of the combined company, which will be called Warner Bros. Discovery.?
    It is unclear, however, what the new company might name the combined service or how much it might charge. WarnerMedia’s HBO Max starts at $10 per month for an advertising-supported version, or $15 per month for an ad-free option. Discovery’s Discovery Plus starts at $5 per month with ads, or $7 per month for ad-free streaming.?
    HBO Max is the larger of the two services, with current parent AT&T revealing in January that the service (plus TV channel HBO)?ended 2021 with 73.8 million subscribers. Discovery?ended the year with 22 million subscribers.?
    Variety notes that while Wiedenfels would not disclose pricing for the combined service, he did say that the company planned to have ad-supported and ad-free versions. The executive also said the company will offer some bundle of the two services at first while it decides how best to merge the platforms. Disney does the same with Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus.
    AT&T and Discovery have previously said that they expect the deal to close in the second quarter of 2022.
    Read more:?HBO Max vs. Netflix: How to Decide Between the Streaming Services