Paramount takeover of UK sport cools despite Champions League grab December 10, 2025 Paramount Skydance has no plans to launch a UK sports channel after acquiring Champions League rights from 2027 onwards in an indication that a major expansion into sport from the global streaming platform is unlikely. As it stands the Champions League is likely to be broadcast in this country on Paramount+, while the entertainment network [...]
Netflix holds Hollywood’s crown, but at what cost? December 9, 2025 If you have so much as glanced at any headlines in the past few days, you will have seen that Hollywood is entering a new era of streaming consolidation, with Netflix leading the way. The US giant has agreed a mega $72bn (£54bn) deal to acquire Warner Bros Discovery’s film and TV studios, HBO Max, [...]
Trump won’t be able to resist shaping the future of American media December 9, 2025 Less than twenty years ago, Netflix was still sending DVDs through the post. That particular innovation helped to see off Blockbuster, which crashed from a valuation of around $5bn in the early 2000s to bankruptcy in 2011. Today, Netflix has a valuation north of $400bn and is swooping on a giant of the golden age [...]
Paramount crashes Netflix-Warner Bros party with £108bn rival bid December 8, 2025 Paramount Skydance has launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), throwing the film titan’s recent deal with streaming giant Netflix into uncertainty. On Monday, Paramount said its all-cash tender offer of $30 (£22.50) per share provides shareholders $18bn more than Netflix’s $27.75 per share offer. Paramount chief executive David Ellison argued the [...]
Rebranded Channel 5 returns to profit despite advertising hit October 3, 2025 Broadcaster 5 returned to profit despite its turnover falling by almost £80m during its latest financial year, it has been revealed. The business, which is owned by Paramount, has posted a pre-tax profit of £30.6m for 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House show. The total is up from the £159.5m pre-tax loss it reported [...]
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Thomas the Tank Engine director launch snooker TV channel September 30, 2025 Ronnie O’Sullivan has teamed up with a former director of Thomas the Tank Engine to launch the world’s first dedicated snooker TV channel. Pluto Snooker 900, which launches next week, promises to show a combination of live action, classic matches and O’Sullivan’s coaching series, The Rocket Method. It is the brainchild of Jason Francis, a [...]
Paramount bags South Park in $1.5bn deal after fierce bidding war July 24, 2025 Paramount has inked a $1.5bn (£1.1bn) deal with South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, bringing the long-running animated satire exclusively to its streaming platform Paramount+ after a drawn-out bidding war with rivals including HBO Max and Netflix. The five-year agreement grants Paramount+ streaming rights to all 26 previous seasons of the Emmy-winning show [...]
Channel 5 to show Club World Cup in UK after deal with Dazn April 23, 2025 Channel 5 will broadcast live more than a third of the matches including the final at this summer’s Club World Cup after striking a sublicensing deal with Dazn. The broadcaster, which is owned by US media giant Paramount, has agreed to take 23 of the 63 matches at the first 32-team edition of Fifa’s ambitious [...]
Channel 5 loses £160m ahead of major rebrand amid audience growth December 9, 2024 Channel 5 has insisted its operating model remains stable despite losing almost £160m during 2023, it has been revealed. The channel, which is set to rebrand simply as 5 in April 2025, has slumped to the loss as a result of the value of its investment in Viacom Interactive – a subsidiary of parent company [...]