{"id":5635,"date":"2026-08-06T23:09:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T23:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5635"},"modified":"2026-08-06T23:09:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T23:09:49","slug":"after-u-k-approval-of-paramount-wbd-deal-european-media-leaders-rally-behind-david-ellison-the-industry-will-be-stronger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5635","title":{"rendered":"After U.K. Approval of Paramount-WBD Deal, European Media Leaders Rally Behind David Ellison: \u2018The Industry Will Be Stronger\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nThe U.K.\u2019s decision to clear Paramount Skydance\u2019s $111 \u2060billion proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery has been broadly welcomed by European industry players. <\/p>\n

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\n\tU.K. exhibitors, media executives and analysts have argued the deal reflects a wider shift in regulatory thinking as European broadcasters face mounting competitive pressure from global streaming giants.<\/p>\n

\n\tFollowing the European Commission\u2019s clearance of the deal last month, the U.K.\u2019s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Thursday concluded the merger would not substantially impact competition within theatrical film distribution, linear children\u2019s TV channels and the supply of subscription VOD services in Britain.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe support Ellison is receiving across Europe follows an extensive lobbying campaign he undertook in January to build backing for the transaction. The Skydance chief met political leaders, policymakers and senior industry players, including the French President Emmanuel Macron and the U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, to stress how committed to the theatrical experience he was, as well as to persuade them that traditional media companies had to come together to compete with global streamers.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat outreach appears to have considerably helped Ellison win over influential figures, several of whom have since publicly embraced his argument. That was the case in Brussels, where Macron pushed for the deal to be cleared by the European Commission, according to a senior industry source. <\/p>\n

\n\tVue founder and CEO Tim Richards described the CMA\u2019s greenlight as an important milestone after six years of disruption and uncertainty for the film business, spanning the pandemic and the Hollywood strikes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe welcome today\u2019s decision from the U.K.\u2019s Competition and Markets Authority to approve Paramount Skydance\u2019s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery,\u201d Richards said. \u201cIt has been an incredibly challenging six years for our industry, from the pandemic through to the Hollywood strikes, and this decision is an important step toward providing the final level of certainty for the sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRichards argued that bringing the two studios together would strengthen theatrical exhibition and support greater investment in feature filmmaking under Skydance founder David Ellison.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe believe the industry will be stronger with Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery coming together, rather than competing separately,\u201d Richards said. \u201cThe industry now needs final certainty so it can focus on what matters most: making and releasing great films.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe added that Ellison was \u201ca highly respected filmmaker\u201d who had consistently demonstrated a long-term commitment to feature films and theatrical exhibition, and urged remaining regulators not to delay the transaction further.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe CMA\u2019s approval also marks a notable departure from the tougher stance regulators adopted several years ago, when the British watchdog blocked Microsoft\u2019s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard before later approving a restructured version of the deal, and took a hard line on Meta\u2019s acquisition of Giphy, forcing the social media giant to unwind the transaction.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking to Variety,<\/em> Sir Peter Bazalgette, the former ITV chair and longtime government adviser on the creative industries, said consolidation had become both inevitable and increasingly supported by policymakers.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe trend is toward consolidation,\u201d Bazalgette said. \u201cRegulators were stopping these mergers four or five years ago because they were looking in the rearview mirror and not on the road ahead. They\u2019re now looking at it very differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tBazalgette pointed to the U.K.\u2019s recently published industrial strategy for the creative industries, arguing that consolidation had effectively become part of government policy.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe actually wrote into it, with government approval, that consolidation is something that needs to happen,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a matter of necessity that you need to have mergers or merge services.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe also dismissed concerns that the combined Paramount-WBD business would wield excessive market power in Britain.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen it comes to competition, Paramount\u2019s not very big, and OK, they\u2019re going to own Warner Bros. Discovery now, but if you look at British media and the role of Netflix, Disney, Apple and the BBC, you could hardly argue that the whole Skydance conglomerate is in a dominant position in the U.K. market,\u201d he said. \u201cThey just don\u2019t have a dominant position. Just look at market share. It\u2019s tiny.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn order to receive the U.K. approval, Paramount Skydance had to address concerns surrounding Channel 5, the U.K. public service broadcaster owned by Paramount, and agreed to maintain its public service broadcasting license through 2034, preserve the editorial independence of Channel 5 News, keep its news operations separate from CNN and CBS News, as well as continue commissioning U.K.-originated programming, and invest \u00a380 million ($108 million) in the broadcaster over the next three years.<\/p>\n

\n\tYet, Bazalgette suggested that while the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5 could remain independent, they may ultimately combine services such as streaming platforms or advertising sales. Under that scenario, he added, Channel 5 would become \u201ca ticket to play\u201d for Skydance.<\/p>\n

\n\tMark Oliver, a U.K. media analyst, similarly argued that the merger raises few meaningful competition concerns in Britain because neither Paramount nor Channel 5 commands a significant share of the market.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe main issue is around the shared advertising market, and whether there needs to be a reshuffling of that ownership,\u201d Oliver said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s around Warner Bros. and Paramount having too much power in the U.K. market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe noted that Channel 5 accounts for roughly 5% of television viewing, or around 6% including its portfolio channels.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s no TV market issues in the U.K. on the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger,\u201d Oliver said. \u201cYou obviously still have Disney and Universal through Comcast, while Netflix, Amazon MGM and Netflix\u2019s own productions have fundamentally changed the commissioning landscape. One studio is not going to push it over the edge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOliver said any remaining regulatory questions are more likely to concern the companies\u2019 studio businesses and theatrical distribution than the British television market.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe CMA\u2019s approval comes as British exhibitors are enjoying the highest number of weekly admissions since \u2018Barbenheimer,\u2018 bolstered by \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cSpider-Man: Brand New Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nNaman Ramachandran and Leo Barraclough contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.K.\u2019s decision to clear Paramount Skydance\u2019s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. 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