HBO chief Casey Bloys said Paramount and Warner Bros. is preparing to take the reins of the entire broadcast operations. On Tuesday, Cindy Holland announced that she is stepping down from her role as head of Paramount+ and other direct-to-consumer streamers under the Paramount umbrella.
The change comes with Paramount Skydance’s hard-earned $110 billion worth of money from Warner Bros. It happened days before Discovery was due to complete its acquisition.
Holland confirmed his departure in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon, acknowledging that Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison had made the decision on broadcast leadership, but did not mention Bloys by name.
“We discussed my role and the future of the combined businesses as David prepares for the next phase of his vision. David is optimizing HBO’s stability as we move into the next chapter, and I fully support that. I know this team has the leadership and expertise to lead the transition and the company’s next phase, and to that end, today will mark my last day here,” Holland wrote.
Speculation has emerged over the past few weeks that Bloys could move into the top position overseeing all broadcast operations after the merger. Bloys is a nearly 25-year HBO veteran who has navigated TV’s most prestigious brand through choppy waters and three major acquisitions in eight years. There’s also speculation that JB Perrette, who currently heads streaming business operations and gaming for WBD, will join Bloys to shepherd HBO, HBO Max and Paramount+.
Holland was part of the pioneering team that built Netflix into the world’s largest subscription streaming platform. His 18-year tenure at the publisher included a role as Vice President of Original Content. Holland created the network’s original programming strategy and oversaw the teams behind flagship hits such as “House of Cards,” “Stranger Things,” “The Crown,” “Icarus,” “When They See Us” and “The Queen’s Gambit.” Between Netflix and Paramount, Holland served as CEO of Sister, the production company founded by Elizabeth Murdoch. His exit comes as the industry wildly speculates about the fate of other division leaders at both companies.
Here is the full score from the Netherlands:
When I joined David’s team in January 2025, we set three goals: i) Warner Bros. Advising on the acquisition of Discovery, ii) integrating and transforming Paramount+ and revitalizing Pluto TV, and iii) building a team unique in this industry. I’m proud to say we achieved all three in just over 12 months, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working closely with you all.
Together with the product team, we led significant strategic and organizational change at DTC; We invested in greater depth and breadth of programming as we laid a new foundation for growth across both services, delivering strong revenue, profit and subscriber growth for the division.
We discussed my role and the future of the combined businesses as David prepared for the next phase of his vision. David is optimizing HBO stability as he moves on to the next chapter, and I fully support that. I know that this team has the leadership and expertise to manage the company’s transition and next phase, and to that end, today will be my last day here.
When I think about my time here and everything we’ve built together in this short time, the thing that stands out the most to me is this team. I’ve never been more proud of a group of people. What we have achieved together is remarkable; to achieve success quarter after quarter through resilience, focus and ambition while dealing with extraordinary uncertainty and change. We delivered Paramount+ to an all-time high in subscribers, the best retention rate in the service’s history, and double-digit growth in both engagement and revenue. We’ve built an incredible content pipeline, greenlighting more than 40 new and returning series and breaking all-time records, with Landman the most-watched series in Paramount+ history and Dutton Ranch the service’s biggest original series ever. We have transformed live sports into a powerful broadcast growth engine, signing major deals with UFC and Zuffa Boxing, and expanding our WNBA and UEFA Champions League rights; UFC Freedom 250 became the largest audience ever for a special live event on Paramount+ and UFC 329, setting a new platform record for highest concurrent streams for a special live event. And we undertook Pluto TV’s largest product transformation in a decade, significantly increasing recorded viewing and VOD consumption while delivering strong financial performance across the business. These are extraordinary achievements; But what makes me most proud is how we achieve these things: with an unwavering commitment to our audiences, our creative partners, and each other.R.
I joined Paramount because I believed in the business and because Paramount and Warner Bros. I wholeheartedly believe that Discovery’s combination will be in the best interests of artists and audiences around the world. I can’t wait to see what you will all achieve together in this next, important chapter.