Warner Bros.-Paramount Will Reach 71% U.S. Households and be Bigger than Netflix

The merger, which was under intense antitrust regulatory scrutiny, will create the largest streamer in the business.

By John McDermott

If Paramount finalizes its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery — and it looks like it will — the combined studio will reach 71% of American households, making it the largest streaming provider in the entertainment industry, according to a new analysis by media intelligence firm Samba.

Paramount’s suite of streaming services, which includes its flagship service Paramount+ and the free, ad-supported streamer Pluto TV, reached a combined 69 million U.S. households over a 28-day period from mid-August to mid-September, Samba data shows.

Warner Bros. Discovery, whose suite of streaming apps includes HBO Max and Discovery+, reached 47.4 million households over that same period.

Collectively, the two companies reached 89.3 million households over those four weeks. There were 27 million households that streamed content from both Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery platforms during this timeframe.

The combined reach of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery is more than current industry leader Netflix, which reached 82.7 million households, a 65.7% reach, over the same 28-day span.

The proposed merger was under intense regulatory scrutiny for months until this Monday, when attorneys general from 12 states dropped their antitrust lawsuit alleging that the deal would concentrate too much power in the TV and film industry in one company. 

Paramount avoided a costly legal battle with regulators by pledging to keep its news organizations CNN and CBS editorially independent and to spend $1.5 billion over the next five years on film production, with a focus on producing films in the U.S.

The agreement ensures Paramount won’t flee California for a tax haven in Texas, as the company threatened during negotiations, and that domestic film production crews can expect steady work in the short-term. But the agreement does not address concerns about the sheer size of the merged company, and Samba data shows that it will indeed dominate the streaming industry.

Once the deal is settled, the newly formed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery (or whatever name the conglomerate lands on) will, in terms of household reach, unseat Netflix for the top spot in streaming.