Step aside Disney-21st Century Fox, the biggest takeover in Hollywood history closes today (Tuesday, October 6). After 13 months of “will they or won’t they” boardroom and courtroom drama, the conclusion to the Paramount-WBD merger saga follows last week’s antitrust settlement approval. The newly beefed-up Skydance parent company will own dozens of media assets including two iconic Hollywood studios, two major streaming services, two global news organizations, over 40 television networks, and one of the most expansive slates of popular movie franchises ever housed within a single media company.

The states spent months arguing — and then settling — their antitrust case that largely protects basic cable and theatrical distribution for five years. And that’s the problem: The fight over this M&A deal happened through the rearview mirror based on legacy markets that consumers are leaving behind. But it’s the streaming market where the lasting impact of this mega merger will actually play out — a market the lawsuit (by design) didn’t touch. Entertainment companies that may have started out in distinct categories are all building towards the same scaled streaming end state.

That’s why US online adults in Forrester’s September 2026 Consumer Pulse Survey indicated the outcome that’s most important for Skydance to deliver on is better value for the price of streaming services (39%), not a stronger theatrical movie business (9%). Across months of Forrester quant and qual research about this merger, three core consumer concerns consistently emerged. And over the past couple of days, we now know a bit more as to the degree Skydance will or won’t address them.

Consumer Concern #1: Streaming Prices Will Increase

From the earliest moments this merger became a possibility, consumers cried foul over what they see as inevitable price hikes. Fifty-six percent of respondents to a recent Forrester ConsumerVoices poll who subscribe to HBO Max, Paramount+, or both identified higher streaming prices as their biggest concern. “Their decision to merge shouldn’t cost me more,” wrote one subscriber. Every streaming service has been on a relentless cycle of jacking up their prices for profitability. And because the Paramount-WBD deal was financed with a massive amount of debt, it’s hard to imagine that streaming price hikes aren’t in Skydance’s future. Consumers want to preserve choice through competition and, by and large, they see this merger as eliminating their choice.

Potentially good news? Skydance’s “one streaming service” strategy is softening in recent days toward a potential Paramount+ and HBO Max bundle approach à la Disney+ and Hulu. While this would preserve consumer choice, it’s farfetched to think it’ll prevent downstream price hikes.

Consumer Concern #2: HBO Will Get Diluted

Back in March, streaming consumers were particularly protective of HBO in a Forrester poll about this merger, fearing deal “synergies” would translate into canceled shows and diluted premium programming. Respondents told us, “I worry that this will destroy the quality programming that’s on HBO Max,” “Do NOT mess with the HBO Max original shows,” and “Please don’t sacrifice content and reduce HBO Max’s content production budget.”

While valid, those fears may be overstated as, yesterday, Skydance CEO David Ellison announced the leadership structure for the combined company. Casey Bloys, who’s been leading HBO and HBO Max, has been named co-chair and chief content officer of Skydance DTC. This essentially means that the HBO leadership team is now in charge of Skydance’s combined streaming operation. While that bodes well for the HBO brand, make no mistake, Bloys will be pressured to find and deliver cost efficiencies that could affect content quality.

Consumer Concern #3: CNN Will Lose Its Independence

One of the more political aspects of this merger has been the future of CNN. The optics of the Trump administration’s support for the deal, coupled with David Ellison’s visible proximity to the White House during the merger process raised eyebrows. More than once, President Trump publicly weighed in on CNN’s future during the bidding process, arguing that the network should be sold because its leadership was “either corrupt or incompetent.” And the President’s recent ban of CNN from certain White House events only heightened those concerns among critics of the merger.

Consumers worried about immediate political interference may be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Mark Thompson, the former director-general of the BBC and former CEO of The New York Times Company, will remain in charge of CNN as chairman and editor-in-chief. Thompson says he has “real confidence” that Skydance’s leadership will support CNN’s editorial independence and that he will continue leading the network as “an independent editor-in-chief with the same responsibilities and prerogatives that I have now.” But whether that independence holds through future cost-cutting efforts and the long-term structure of CNN and CBS News remains an open question.

Forrester clients: Let’s chat more about this via a Forrester guidance session.

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