Pressure mounts as Ellison stakes $40bn for Warner Bros Media In the latest twist in Hollywood’s own corporate soap opera, tech billionaire Larry Ellison has personally guaranteed $40.4bn (£30bn) to support Paramount Skydance’s $108.4bn bid for Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), in a bid to outflank Netflix in the fight for the entertainment giant. Warner Bros urged shareholders last week to reject Paramount’s all-cash offer, citing [...]
Joshua vs Paul: A defining moment in evolution of sport entertainment Sport Business Tom Wild discusses how Joshua vs Paul shows sport can no longer be separated from the cultural forces that surround it. In a world where attention is fractured and loyalty is fluid, one of the most powerful tools available to help marketers cut through isn’t new at all – it’s culture. More specifically, it’s the [...]
AJ vs Paul: Netflix hosting amid WBD takeover a signal for sport Sport Business Netflix hosting Anthony Joshua’s showdown against Jake Paul this Friday, at the same time it moves closer to a possible takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, signals something bigger than a one-night spectacle. It shows live sport is changing fast. Netflix has experimented before. Last November it reported that 60m households watched Paul’s fight with Mike [...]
Warner Bros to snub Paramount’s takeover in favour of Netflix December 17, 2025 Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is preparing to urge shareholders to reject a $108bn (£81bn) hostile takeover bid from Paramount, after one of its key financial backers pulled out of the deal. Affinity Partners, the investment firm owned by Jared Kushner, said it would no longer support Paramount’s offer, citing a shift in circumstances. “The dynamics [...]
Is Netflix headed for the ‘Adobe effect’? December 11, 2025 Netflix, now the world’s most valuable streaming company, insists it is still in expansion mode. However, its $72bn bid for Warner Bros Discovery last Friday, and the rival, hostile counter-move from Paramount Skydance on Monday, have triggered an uncomfortable question in Hollywood and on Wall Street. Is Netflix wandering into the same trap that humiliated [...]
Netflix $72bn Warner offer: ‘I never saw it coming’ says co-founder Marc Randolph December 10, 2025 Netflix’s former CEO and co-founder, Marc Randolph, said the $72bn bid by his former company last week for Warner Bros.’ film studios and streaming business, “came as a shock”. Speaking at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Randolph told the audience, “I will confess I never saw that [move] coming. I haven’t worked at Netflix for quite [...]
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 [...]