{"id":4973,"date":"2026-07-27T09:36:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T09:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4973"},"modified":"2026-07-27T09:36:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T09:36:38","slug":"benedict-cumberbatch-alan-cumming-and-benedict-wong-urge-u-k-government-to-block-paramount-warner-bros-merger-in-op-ed-it-threatens-to-inflict-immense-harm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4973","title":{"rendered":"Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming and Benedict Wong Urge U.K. Government to Block Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger in Op-Ed: \u2018It Threatens to Inflict Immense Harm\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nBenedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming and Benedict Wong have urged the U.K. government to intervene in the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros merger, saying it \u201cthreatens to inflict immense harm on the British public.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tIn an op-ed addressed to culture minister Lisa Nandy, the trio said her intervention could be \u201cprove one of the most important decisions any culture secretary has taken for UK film, television and media in a generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThey argue that the merger will result in \u201credundancies, cancelled productions, fewer films commissioned and fewer risks taken,\u201d although they acknowledge that aspect of the merger is less within Nandy\u2019s remit than the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is also reviewing the deal. Nandy\u2019s is to decide whether the merger is in the public interest, to which Cumberbatch, Cumming and Wong say \u201cIt most certainly is not.\u201d The trio point to the fact that Paramount currently owns public service broadcaster Channel 5 as well as CBS in the States: the acquisition of WBD would see CNN and CNN International also come under the same umbrella.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf one commercially interested owner controls access to both [the CNN and CBS news archives], they control the raw material of our historical memory,\u201d the op-ed, published in the Guardian, states.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNandy has opened the door to intervention. She must walk through it, for the sake of everyone who makes U.K. television and film \u2013 and everyone who watches it. If she does not, we will be left without the ability to protect our industry and our culture from this consolidation. We must not push the public\u2019s interest aside; we must stand up for it and block this merger.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tNandy has already said she is \u201cminded to intervene\u201d in the deal, although Parliament is now in recess until Sept. 1. The culture secretary, who managed to cling on to her job in the wake of a cabinet reshuffle by incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham, currently has a number of high-profile media matters to attend to, including the equally if not more impactful acquisition of ITV by Comcast-owned Sky as well as the BBC\u2019s royal charter renewal. <\/p>\n

\n\tLast week the European Commission approved the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, albeit with some conditions.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the U.S., however, it is facing opposition from numerous sources. As of Friday, Paramount agreed to postpone the merger until after an antitrust trial.<\/p>\n

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Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming and Benedict Wong have urged the U.K. government to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[3313,2295,3967,3253],"class_list":["post-4973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biz","tag-alan-cumming","tag-benedict-cumberbatch","tag-benedict-wong","tag-paramount-warner-bros"],"yoast_head":"\nBenedict Cumberbatch, Alan Cumming and Benedict Wong Urge U.K. Government to Block Paramount-Warner Bros. 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