UK CULTURE SECRETARY CLEARS PARAMOUNT SKYDANCE WARNER BROS MERGER

The UK Culture Secretary has decided not to intervene in the proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance, following assurances and legally-binding commitments secured from Paramount. The decision was made under the Enterprise Act public interest regime, which had previously raised concerns about the merger's potential impact on media plurality in the UK, including children's programming, editorial independence and news media.

Warner Bros. Discovery reported strong financial performance in its second quarter, with streaming revenue surpassing $3 million, marking a 10% increase year-on-year, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation exceeding $500 million. Growth was driven by HBO Max expansion into new markets and content offerings including "Euphoria," "House of the Dragon" and "The Pitt." Advertising revenue for the streaming business increased 9%, primarily from growth in global ad-lite subscribers, though this was offset by the loss of NBA broadcasting rights, which the company said negatively impacted year-on-year growth by 16% when excluding foreign currency effects.

Paramount CEO David Ellison has stated plans to merge HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single streaming service as part of the acquisition. The combined service would serve approximately 200 million global subscribers, according to Ellison's previous statements. The proposed merger has faced separate challenges from state attorneys general in the United States, with a trial scheduled for March. Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have argued that merger-scale operations are necessary to compete with larger industry competitors.