Cindy Holland, Paramount Skydance’s chief of streaming, departed the company on Tuesday as Paramount prepares to finalize its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, a transaction valued at $111 billion. Her departure clears the way for HBO Chairman Casey Bloys to assume a leading role in the combined entity’s streaming operations.
Holland, who joined Paramount approximately 14 months ago as chair of direct-to-consumer operations overseeing Paramount+ and Pluto TV, announced her resignation effective immediately in a memo to her staff. During her tenure, she aimed to build a strong management team, enhance the company’s streaming platforms, and advise on the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition bid led by Paramount CEO David Ellison.
Paramount is awaiting regulatory approval to complete the Warner acquisition, which includes significant assets such as HBO, CNN, TBS, and Warner Bros. studios. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Oakland authorized the deal to move forward, ending a lawsuit brought by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and other state officials who had challenged the merger on antitrust grounds. The company anticipates closing the deal in early October.
Holland’s exit follows months of speculation about how Paramount’s streaming leadership would be structured after the acquisition. Bloys, who has chaired HBO since late 2022, is widely respected in the entertainment industry for his role in developing acclaimed HBO series including “Game of Thrones,” “Succession,” “Euphoria,” “Hacks,” and “The White Lotus.” He is viewed as a key figure in stabilizing and leading HBO’s programming under the new ownership framework.
David Ellison has publicly expressed his commitment to preserving HBO’s standing in premium television and signaled plans to position Bloys in a central role for the merged company's streaming services. Holland acknowledged this transition in her memo, stating that Ellison is “optimizing for HBO stability” as the business enters its next phase.
Before joining Paramount, Holland was an influential Netflix executive involved in launching pivotal original series such as “Stranger Things,” “House of Cards,” and “The Crown.” At Paramount, she focused on diversifying Paramount+ content, including signing projects starring Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, and Jeremy Strong, and worked to counterbalance a male-skewed content slate that featured programming like Ultimate Fighting Championship events and Taylor Sheridan dramas.
As HBO boasts more than 140 million subscribers globally, significantly outpacing Paramount+’s approximately 80 million subscribers, the integration of the two streaming services presents both challenges and opportunities for the combined company. Holland leaves with Ellison’s praise for her significant contributions during a period of corporate transformation, while Bloys is expected to steer the new streaming strategy moving forward.