HBO's future on Crave uncertain as Paramount Skydance acquires Warner Bros. Discovery in merger
CBC
Canadians looking forward to HBO's highly-anticipated TV and streaming adaptation of Harry Potter, set to premiere early next year, will watch it on Crave in Canada.
But it's unclear how much longer the Bell Media-owned streamer will hold exclusive rights to HBO programming, including Harry Potter and series such as The White Lotus, as well as the forthcoming final seasons of The Last of Us and House of the Dragon.
Paramount Skydance is set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery — which owns HBO and its streaming service, HBO Max — in a takeover worth $110 billion US (about $150 billion Cdn), pending federal approval that is expected to happen by the end of the year.
It's not clear what that means for Warner Bros. Discovery's existing deals with Canadian broadcasters and streamers, including Crave, or whether Canadian viewers will have to subscribe to another service to watch their favourite shows.
The deal could also have broader implications for streaming in Canada.
Paramount's subscription service, Paramount+, is already available in Canada, along with its free ad-supported TV (FAST) service, Pluto TV.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has indicated he wants to bring those platforms and HBO Max together into a single streaming service.
"We think that really positions us to compete with the leaders in the space," Ellison said on a recent investor call, according to The Guardian.
Crave has streamed HBO and HBO Max programming since it signed a licensing deal with the company's former parent, then AT&T-owned Warner Media, in 2019. A new deal was struck in 2023 — a year after Discovery bought Warner Media to form Warner Bros. Discovery — and it was renewed and expanded in 2024.
Bell Media is trying to allay concerns that the deal could change any time soon.
"Crave remains home of HBO and HBO Max programming in Canada for many years to come through a long-term deal with Warner Bros. Discovery," Bell Media spokesperson Nicolle Stranges said in an email to CBC News on Thursday.
It's not clear when the current agreement expires.
In statements to Broadcast Dialogue and The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week, Bell Media said its deal with Warner Bros. Discovery would see HBO and HBO Max programming on Crave "for the foreseeable future."
Even if Paramount+ begins offering HBO content in Canada, it may not disappear entirely from Crave. In the U.S., for example, some HBO library titles — such as Sex and the City and Six Feet Under — have also streamed on other platforms, including Netflix.
