Cindy Holland, chairman of Paramount’s direct-to-consumer division who oversees the company’s streaming plans, announced in a memo to employees that she is leaving the company, according to reports in Variety and Deadline. This move seems to clear the way for Casey Bloys, who will lead HBO and HBO Max at Warner Bros. Discovery, to drive streaming, something Holland mentioned in her exit memo. Today, September 29, is her last day at Paramount.
Holland’s departure brings some clarity to Paramount’s streaming vision. While Holland’s memo did not mention Bloys by name, it does indicate that “David is doing his best for the sustainability of HBO as we move into this next chapter, and I fully support that.” Bloys became HBO’s president of programming in 2016 and his role has since expanded to include HBO Max and other aspects of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Holland joined Paramount in January 2025 and explained in her memo that she was tasked with reviving Pluto TV as well as integrating Paramount+ and advising on the WBD merger, and helped grow Paramount+ to 79.6 million subscribers. She was also instrumental in the early days of Netflix’s expansion into original streaming programming with shows like “House of Cards” and “Stranger Things,” and eventually spent 18 years at Netflix.
Although Bloys is not coming on board officially, and the merger itself is not closed yet, it could be confirmed in a few days. And what will happen to HBO and HBO Max, how it is integrated into Paramount + or is it on its own, are still big questions. Bloys, however, has as much history as anyone in town. Consider HBO’s continued dominance at the Emmys and how the brand has held up over the years even as Paramount’s own flagship cable brand Showtime has declined, ultimately becoming integrated into Paramount+.
There is still no answer as to what will be the fate of Warner Bros. executives. Pictures Mike DeLuca and Pam Abdy and what role they would play in WarnerMount together. Paramount still has to deliver an aggressive slate of 30 movies a year across the two studios, so there’s plenty of room to go around.