What a difference a day makes. When America woke up on Thursday morning, Warner Bros. Discovery had a deal in place to sell its streaming and studio assets to Netflix in a deal worth nearly $83 billion. As of Friday, however, WBD’s board has officially pivoted, opting to recommend Paramount’s new $31-per-share offer to its shareholders for acceptance.

Unless federal or California state regulators quash the agreement, all of WBD’s assets will fall under Paramount’s auspices once the deal closes, including the HBO Max streaming service. But what does that mean for the streaming futures of both companies? We’ll dive into the streaming-related questions that crop up from a combination of WBD and Paramount, and give our most educated predictions on what will come of the mega-merger.

What does the merger of Paramount and WBD mean for the future of streaming?

Will HBO Max and Paramount+ merge?

The most obvious streaming-related question arising from the merger of WBD and Paramount is whether or not HBO Max and Paramount+ will be joined together on a single app. There are pros and cons to doing so; having the two streamers in one place allows Paramount to create cost synergies and cut down on redundancies, and lowers the barriers for customers who will no longer have to go to different apps to find streaming content from both services. Back in October, reports emerged that HBO Max and Paramount+ would indeed be combined if Paramount won the auction for WBD, but plans may have changed in the intervening months.

If the two streamers are combined, it will have to be done with care. The HBO brand is incredibly well established and has a reputation for quality that spans decades. Integrating its video library with Paramount+’s right away may not be the best move, since that streamer has always been more of a general entertainment platform. Integrating the two libraries right away may leave viewers wondering what happened to HBO, and whether or not they still get the same prestige TV experience from that brand if it’s moved onto the Paramount+ app immediately.

Ultimately, I think Paramount will follow a course similar to that of Disney, which has been deliberately shifting content from Hulu to the Disney+ app in preparation for a full-on integration. HBO Max will likely remain its own app for a period of time, and then will be slowly melded with the Paramount+ platform. Viewers will eventually be able to watch HBO Max content on the Paramount+ app, and while I think separate subscriptions to both services will remain available for the foreseeable future, the standalone HBO Max app will eventually be sunset. In the short term, a bundle of Paramount+ and HBO Max at a lower price seems almost guaranteed.

What will a bundle of HBO Max and Paramount+ cost?

Past experience with HBO Max bundles can give some guidance here. The streamer is available in a combo with Disney+ and Hulu currently, costing $17 per month for ad-supported plans of each service, or $30 per month to go ad-free. Both of these plans offer savings greater than 40% off what customers would have to pay to sign up for each individual service.

On their own, Paramount+ and HBO Max’s ad-supported plans cost $9 and $11 per month, respectively. Using the 40% discount as a benchmark, a bundle of the two streamers’ ad plans would cost around $12 per month. Customers who want to go ad-free can probably expect to pay $20 per month for a bundle of Paramount+ Premium and HBO Max with no ads, which would be around 40% off the current, unbundled price of those plans.

What will happen to discovery+?

As things currently stand, WBD is in the process of splitting itself into two companies: one comprised of its studio and streaming businesses, the other (called Discovery Global) of its global TV networks. The discovery+ streaming service was placed in the latter bucket of assets, a sensible move since all of its on-demand content is sourced from Warner-owned linear channels.

But unlike Netflix, Paramount’s offer for WBD has always encompassed those linear networks as well as its other components. Paramount’s ownership team has already signaled its intentions to revitalize their own cable channels, so I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the spinoff of WBD’s cable channels won’t go forward once Paramount takes over.

That still doesn’t guarantee the future of discovery+, though. I fear the streamer may still be shut down, and all of its content merged onto the Paramount+ platform. I think the discovery+ library will remain available to stream on-demand on HBO Max, as well, but shutting it down as a standalone app would help unlock savings for Paramount as it tries to trim the fat.

The content library on discovery+ is made up of titles from channels like Food Network, HGTV, Magnolia Network, and other cable networks that I think are a much closer tonal fit to the Paramount+ catalog than those found in the HBO Max canon. Ultimately, I think Paramount halts the split of WBD into two separate entities, but discovery+ will still be merged onto Paramount+.

What kind of tech upgrades can Paramount+ now expect?

I’ve been critical of the Paramount+ app before, and the company’s current ownership pledged to make significant upgrades to the platform even before it showed interest in an acquisition of WBD. HBO Max, on the other hand, has one of the better streaming apps available — at least in my opinion.

If Paramount wants to put the two services on the same app one day, it needs to make meaningful changes to the functionality of the Paramount+ app. Maintaining the high-quality reputation of HBO will be key even after the two services are placed on one app, and forcing viewers to stream its titles on a buggy, poorly performing platform won’t help.

Will the merger impact theatrical windows for WB movies?

One of the most-discussed talking points in Hollywood circles when Netflix was poised to purchase WBD was how the streamer would handle theatrical releases from the Warner Bros. Studio. Netflix officials pledged more than once that they would respect Tinseltown norms in that regard, specifically promising to abide by the 45-day theatrical minimum for studio releases that has become the standard.

No such questions have been asked of Paramount, for the simple reason that it, too, has its own movie studio that distributes titles theatrically. It’s a key revenue stream for the company, and there are likely no major changes in store for the release window of WB movies in the future.

With a handful of notable exceptions, both companies have been consistent with sticking to 45-day theatrical windows before bringing films to their respective streamers, and there’s no reason to expect that window will shrink. In fact, it is far more likely that it will increase than decrease, as Paramount Skydance’s CEO David Ellison often champions longer theatrical periods for the films he produces, like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning.”

What’s the streaming future of Turner Sports?

Discovery Global was set to take Turner Sports channels TNT, TBS, and truTV with it in the breakup from WBD’s studios and streaming. It’s even in the process of developing a new streaming app dedicated to offering Turner Sports content like NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games, the French Open, College Football Playoff contests, and more on a direct-to-consumer (DTC) basis.

That’s another huge reason I think Paramount will keep WBD’s cable networks close: new sports rights. The company will now own all broadcast rights to Men’s March Madness, alongside college and NFL football, MLB, NHL, a large number of soccer matches, UFC events, and a lot more. Why spin those channels off into their own company when they fit so well with CBS Sports’ existing assets?

That opens plenty of other questions, such as whether or not the new TNT Sports app will continue, whether Paramount will make a new carriage deal with Fubo to restore Turner Sports to that service, etc. I do think viewers will have DTC access to Turner Sports events sooner rather than later under Paramount, but whether that will be via a standalone app, Paramount+, or another method, I can’t predict just yet.