Paramount-Warner Bros merger: Four ways the deal could affect you

It has been months in the making but Paramount Skydance has finally completed its $110bn (£82.8bn) merger with Warner Bros Discovery.

Yet behind this milestone lies strict rules about what the combined business can and cannot do - from how many films it must produce a year to the editorial independence of its newsroom.

Warner Bros owns HBO Max, home to The Sopranos, House of the Dragon and Euphoria among others. Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance has Paramount+, which streams the likes of Yellowstone, Parks and Recreation and NCIS.

While existing subscribers to both might enjoy short-term savings, analysts expect overall prices to rise as the combined giant seeks profitability.

Analysts warn that consumers will ultimately bear the financial burden of the $110bn deal.

While viewers will gain access to a broader catalog, as Skydance shifts toward a Paramount+ and HBO Max bundle rather than a single app, Proulx warns that "it's far-fetched to think it'll prevent downstream price hikes".

As part of a settlement deal with US states who had objected to the merger, Paramount Skydance has agreed to release a set number of films every year for the next five years.

That's 156 movies in total - and the majority have to be "wide releases," meaning they must to be shown in cinemas.

If Skydance misses its movie quota, it could be forced to sell its 49% stake in Miramax – the studio co-founded by disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

"Once those obligations expire, the company will have far more flexibility," she said.

Once the five-year deal ends, Skydance could follow rivals like Disney and Netflix by prioritizing streaming over cinema.

Before the acquisition, 20th Century Fox routinely released 12 to 17 movies annually in theatres, but under Disney that slate scaled down to just three to six a year.