15 h. ago Netflix and Paramount deals are both wrong for Warner Bros Discovery – and democracy

A congressional hearing this week underscored the danger a WBD deal would pose to journalism and the American publicDonald Trump wants CNN sold. He has said so repeatedly and publicly, demanding it “should be sold” in any deal involving Warner Bros Discovery. Now one of America’s largest media companies is racing to oblige him, while another looks to consolidate its power. Wednesday’s House judiciary hearing on streaming competition – where lawmakers voiced concern over the Trump administration’s influence and a potential merger’s toll on consumers – made clear just how dangerous both options are for free speech, audiences and democracy itself.Netflix has bid $82.7bn for Warner Bros Discovery, only to be countered by a hostile $108bn takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison, son of Trump’s ally Larry. Neither deal serves the public interest, and both are dangerous for the future of free expression. Both would produce an unprecedented concentration of power over wha...

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15 h. ago Netflix and Paramount deals are both wrong for Warner Bros Discovery – and democracy | Courtney C Radsch

A congressional hearing this week underscored the danger a WBD deal would pose to journalism and the American publicDonald Trump wants CNN sold. He has said so repeatedly and publicly, demanding it “should be sold” in any deal involving Warner Bros Discovery. Now one of America’s largest media companies is racing to oblige him, while another looks to consolidate its power. Wednesday’s House judiciary hearing on streaming competition – where lawmakers voiced concern over the Trump administration’s influence and a potential merger’s toll on consumers – made clear just how dangerous both options are for free speech, audiences and democracy itself.Netflix has bid $82.7bn for Warner Bros Discovery, only to be countered by a hostile $108bn takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison, son of Trump’s ally Larry. Neither deal serves the public interest, and both are dangerous for the future of free expression. Both would produce an unprecedented concentration of power over wha...

Events

50 h. ago Premier League rights may end up at Netflix despite reluctant football romance

As Netflix and Paramount Skydance clash over WBD, football rights once considered peripheral could become central to the future of UK streamingNetflix has spent years politely rebuffing Premier League and Uefa entreaties to bid for their TV rights, so it would be ironic if it picked them up by default. That intriguing outcome is a possibility as a result of the $100bn-plus takeover battle for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) between Netflix and its streaming rival Paramount Skydance which will shape the future not only of Hollywood but global news.Much-hyped sports rights are a footnote in a deal of such magnitude that it will require signoff from the US government, but the implications for football will be profound, even if Donald Trump is more concerned about who owns (and presents on) CNN than which platform shows Bournemouth v Brighton at Saturday lunchtime next season. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Warner Bros to stick with Netflix after rejecting Paramount’s amended takeover offer

Warner Bros is advising its shareholders to pursure Netflix’s lucrative bid for the company instead

Events

4 d. ago Warner Bros tells investors to reject sweetened £80bn Paramount bid

Paramount updated its offer late last month with a £30 billion ‘irrevocable personal guarantee’ from Oracle founder Larry Ellison.

Economics

4 d. ago Warner Bros Discovery tells investors to reject ‘inadequate’ $108bn Paramount bid

Board unwilling to accept hostile takeover despite $40bn guarantee from billionaire Larry EllisonWarner Bros Discovery (WBD) has again told its shareholders to reject an “inadequate” $108.4bn (£80bn) hostile takeover bid by Paramount Skydance amid an extraordinary corporate battle to control the media conglomerate.Paramount, controlled by the billionaire Ellison family, had sought to combat WBD’s criticism of its offer and claims it had “consistently misled” investors by saying it had a “full backstop” – a safety net to ensure it has sufficient funds – from the Ellisons. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Warner Bros to stick with Neftlix after rejecting Paramount’s amended takeover offer

Warner Bros is advising its shareholders to pursure Netflix’s lucrative bid for the company instead

Events

4 d. ago Warner Bros Discovery tells investors to reject latest $108bn hostile Paramount bid

Board unwilling to accept hostile takeover despite $40bn guarantee from billionaire Larry EllisonWarner Bros Discovery (WBD) has again told its shareholders to reject an “inadequate” $108.4bn (£80bn) hostile takeover bid by Paramount Skydance amid an extraordinary corporate battle to control the media conglomerate.Paramount, controlled by the billionaire Ellison family, had sought to combat WBD’s criticism of its offer and claims it had “consistently misled” investors by saying it had a “full backstop” – a safety net to ensure it has sufficient funds – from the Ellisons. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Warner Bros rejects Paramount’s ‘inadequate’ $108bn hostile bid

Board warns shareholders over ‘extraordinary’ amount of debt financing and $4.7bn of costs if it backs out of Netflix deal

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6 d. ago Critics’ Choice Awards host makes Hollywood stars groan with controversial Warner Bros joke

Comedian’s joke didn’t appear to go down too well with A-list crowd

Events

1 week ago As the US media floundered this year, I couldn’t help but think: ‘Thank God I’m at the Guardian’

Other outlets have asked their writers to compromise, but the Guardian has never – and would never – ask me to pull a punchFunded by readers, the Guardian’s fierce independence is guaranteed. Please help us reach our year-end fundraising goal in these final crucial hoursIt might be most generous to characterize the behavior of major US media organizations since 2024 as negotiating between competing incentives.On the one hand, billionaires have consolidated their ownership over major news outlets and platforms. The Murdochs are squabbling over Fox. Jeff Bezos has remade the Washington Post in his own image. The pharmaceutical magnate Patrick Soon-Shiong places a thumb on the scale at the Los Angeles Times, and the Trump-aligned Ellison family has taken over Paramount and CBS, and spent the final weeks of this year making hostile takeover bids for CNN owner Warner Bros. The influence of these billionaire personalities has often reshaped their organizations’ newsrooms and editorial boa...

Politics

1 week ago As the US media floundered this year, I couldn’t help but think: ‘Thank God I’m at the Guardian’ | Moira Donegan

Other outlets have asked their writers to compromise, but the Guardian has never – and would never – ask me to pull a punchFunded by readers, the Guardian’s fierce independence is guaranteed. Please help us reach our year-end fundraising goal in these final crucial hoursIt might be most generous to characterize the behavior of major US media organizations since 2024 as negotiating between competing incentives.On the one hand, billionaires have consolidated their ownership over major news outlets and platforms. The Murdochs are squabbling over Fox. Jeff Bezos has remade the Washington Post in his own image. The pharmaceutical magnate Patrick Soon-Shiong places a thumb on the scale at the Los Angeles Times, and the Trump-aligned Ellison family has taken over Paramount and CBS, and spent the final weeks of this year making hostile takeover bids for CNN owner Warner Bros. The influence of these billionaire personalities has often reshaped their organizations’ newsrooms and editorial boa...

Politics

2 w. ago Paramount makes stunning new bid to buy Warner Bros with $40BILLION guarantee from mega

Larry Ellison, the billionaire father of Paramount CEO David Ellison, put up the sum as a guarantee on Monday following complaints from Warner's board.

Events

2 w. ago Larry Ellison gives personal guarantee for Paramount takeover of Warner Bros Discovery

WBD had urged shareholders to reject $108.4bn hostile takeover bid from Paramount, which is controlled by the Ellisons, following $82.7bn Netflix deal The tech billionaire Larry Ellison has agreed to provide a personal guarantee of more than $40bn for Paramount Skydance’s fight to gain control of Warner Bros Discovery, amid an extraordinary corporate battle over the entertainment giant.WBD urged shareholders to reject a $108.4bn hostile takeover bid from Paramount – which is controlled by the Ellisons – last week, having agreed to sell its storied movie studios, HBO cable network and streaming service to Netflix in a $82.7bn deal earlier this month. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Larry Ellison provides personal guarantee for Paramount takeover of Warner Bros Discovery

WBD had urged shareholders to reject $108.4bn hostile takeover bid from Paramount, which is controlled by the Ellisons, following $82.7bn Netflix deal The tech billionaire Larry Ellison has agreed to provide a personal guarantee of more than $40bn for Paramount Skydance’s fight to gain control of Warner Bros Discovery, amid an extraordinary corporate battle over the entertainment giant.WBD urged shareholders to reject a $108.4bn hostile takeover bid from Paramount – which is controlled by the Ellisons – last week, having agreed to sell its storied movie studios, HBO cable network and streaming service to Netflix in a $82.7bn deal earlier this month. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Larry Ellison gives $40bn personal backing to Warner Bros Discovery bid

Oracle co-founder has agreed to backstop Paramount’s $108bn hostile bid personally

Events

3 w. ago What David Ellison can learn from a hostile bid battle of his father

The saga of Oracle’s PeopleSoft takeover might show what is needed to win Warner Bros Discovery

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3 w. ago Pierce Brosnan says Netflix’s ‘unsettling’ Warner Bros deal ‘doesn’t feel culturally right’

‘Thursday Murder Club’ actor said he has witnessed cinemas ‘evaporating from the landscape’ where he lives in both California and London

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3 w. ago How Sinners became the most culturally important film of 2025

Ryan Coogler’s critically acclaimed horror blockbuster had people talking all year, proving industry naysayers wrong and breaking various recordsIt was the film that was supposed to destroy Hollywood: a vampire horror about life and times in the Jim Crow south peopled by a majority Black cast, and shot on Imax 70mm. Ryan Coogler, the acclaimed director who rose to prominence steering Marvel’s colossal Black Panther franchise, was thought to be out of his depth for trying to midwife a script he himself said he cobbled together in two months. Warner Bros, the studio fronting the film’s near $100m budget, was supposedly out of its mind for not only throwing that much money behind the project, but further agreeing to singularly favorable authorship deal terms that gave him control over the film’ final cut and full rights over the film after 25 years. Hollywood machers were convinced the film would never make money and that Warner Bros’ big gamble “could be the end of the studio system”....

Culture

3 w. ago Warner Bros sale: The $100bn battle for the soul of Hollywood

The bidding war for Warner Bros will determine the future of film — will London escape the fallout?

Events