One of the biggest media mergers in history is complete, combining Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery into a new entertainment behemoth that owns many of the world’s biggest film and TV franchises – and the UK’s Channel 5.
Skydance CEO David Ellison, son of a tech billionaire and ally of Donald Trump, said he was creating a “next-generation media and entertainment company, powered by creativity and technology” to take on streaming giants such as Netflix.
It owns an extraordinary library of content, from The Godfather to Barbie, Forrest Gump to Top Gun, Casablanca to Batman.
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People take part in the National Demonstration for Palestine in central London to mark International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People in November (Photo: Jeff Moore/PA Wire)
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Pro-Palestine march to go ahead on 7 October anniversary
A pro-Palestine march on the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack has been given the go-ahead by police, under strict conditions.
The protest
Who is protesting?
A group of students called the University of London Coalition are expected to march in the capital on Wednesday.
Caption: LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 7: Protesters speak during a demonstration outside King’s College London on October 7, 2025 in London, England. On the same day as people mark the second anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel which led to more than 1200 deaths and 251 hostages taken, students from King’s College London, London School of Economics, University College London, and School of Oriental and ??African Studies (SOAS) take part in a march through central London to mark two years since ‘the beginning of the genocide in Gaza’. This march comes as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced increased police powers at repeat protests, such as those in support of Palestine. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Photographer: Dan Kitwood
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Caption: Pro-Palestinian student protesters hold a banner with the slogan “From the river 2 the sea Palestine will be free” written on it outside King’s College London during an inter-university march for Gaza in London on October 7, 2025, the second anniversary of the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel which sparked a retaliatory offensive in Gaza. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: JUSTIN TALLIS
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Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
Why they are marching
Organisers urged people to “take to the street and demand an end to the Palestinian genocide”.
Why is it controversial?
It has drawn criticism for being held on the anniversary of Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel.
Hamas continues to rule over the Gaza strip and has refused calls from Board of Peace officials to disarm (Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Police restrictions
The group is required to form at Lincoln’s Inn Fields by 12.30pm, take a prescribed route to Russell Square, and finish the rally by 2pm.
Demonstrators must not wear a face covering which conceals their identity, with the Met Police saying anyone who breaches these conditions can be arrested.
The march was originally set to leave from King’s College London, but restrictions require them to be further from the university.
Exclusive
3 min read
‘Show compassion,’ Powell says
Caption: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – SEPTEMBER 08, 2026: Secretary of State for Education and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Lucy Powell arrives in Downing Street to attend weekly Cabinet meeting in London, United Kingdom on September 08, 2026. (Photo credit should read Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Photographer: Wiktor Szymanowicz
Provider: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publis
Source: Future Publishing
Copyright: ? 2026 Wiktor Szymanowicz
Education Secretary Lucy Powell called on the student march organisers “to show compassion and respect for others by moving it” to another date. She added that universities should take “a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitic abuse, backed by robust disciplinary policies”.
Analysis
4 min read
‘High bar for ban not met’
We hear the calls for this event to be banned. The police cannot ban protests and can only ask the Home Secretary to do so if the risk of serious disorder is so high that it can’t be managed by conditions. That high bar is not met here.
met police Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman, who leads Met Operations including public order policing
Caption: LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 2: Protesters holding a placard and a Palestinian flag gather outside the Royal Courts of Justice on December 2, 2025 in London, United Kingdom. A three-day judicial review is being heard by the High Court on the proscription of Palestine Action (PA) as a terrorist group. PA co-founder Huda Ammori leads the challenge to the pro-Palestinian campaign group’s proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000. Last month the Home Office lost an appeal to block the review, which was due to begin on November 25, but was postponed a day. The Home Office-imposed ban on membership or support of PA took effect on July 5, after activists from the pro-Palestinian group broke into RAF Brize Norton and spray-painted two Voyager aircraft. Since their proscription, more than 2,000 people have been arrested for allegedly showing support of PA, mostly while holding signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
Photographer: Jack Taylor
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
What we know as Ofcom opens first investigation into Meta
Ofcom has launched its first investigation into Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta under the Online Safety Act.
Here’s everything we know.
Caption: SHENZHEN, CHINA – JULY 23: In this photo illustration, a smartphone displays the logo of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META), a global technology company and the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, in front of a screen showing the company’s latest stock market chart on July 23, 2026 in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China. (Photo illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
Photographer: Cheng Xin
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images AsiaPac
3 min read
Why is Ofcom investigating Meta?
Online safety regulator Ofcom is investigating Meta regarding its disappearing content feature.
Ofcom said it was looking into whether the tech giant adequately assessed the risks of Instagram Instants before launching it in May.
The feature allows users to take and share photos that disappear after being viewed. It cannot be seen after 24 hours.
Meta said it had “conducted a risk analysis” and briefed Ofcom “on a number of occasions” before launch.
What risks does the feature carry?
Ofcom said on Tuesday it had launched a formal investigation to establish “whether Meta failed to comply with its duties under the Act by not carrying out a suitable and sufficient illegal content risk assessment and children’s risk assessment before the launch of Instants”.
Famous brands including Facebook and Instagram owner Meta have attempted to offset their carbon emission on the Kenyan project (Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Ofcom offices
Photographer: Yui Mok/PA Wire
Source: PA
Illegal content can include child sexual exploitation and abuse material, and harmful content for children under the Act includes pornography, suicide and self-harm.
Meta’s response
Meta takes its regulatory obligations under the Online Safety Act seriously
A Meta spokesperson insisted Instants has in-built protections including “blocking screenshots, reshares and forwarding, no public feed, and Teen Account protections on automatically”.
Instagram has started to ask users to provide their date of birth (Photo: Charles Krupa/AP)
ANALYSIS
Mark Zuckerberg’s toxic empire is starting to crack
Meta’s decision to pay more than $17bn (£12bn) to settle a landmark US lawsuit is being seen as a reckoning for a company that has got away with preying on children and ransacking its users’ data for decades.
Caption: This aerial view shows the water tower with the Paramount logo at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California, on December 9, 2025. Paramount on December 8 launched an all-cash tender offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood giant that also owns CNN, in a challenge to Netflix’s own highly contested deal. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: ROBYN BECK
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Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
NEWS
Paramount and Warner Bros mega deal creates Skydance
Paramount has completed its $110bn (£83bn) takeover of Warner Bros Discovery to create a new Hollywood giant.
Details on the deal
(Photo: Getty)
Big money merger
The mega deal will bring both major film studio brands under the name Skydance.
Which channels are involved?
It also brings together streaming services and TV networks including CBS and HBO Max.
Lloyds took over the HBOS brand in 2008. (Photo: SHAUN CURRY/AFP/Getty Images)
Voters believe the UK’s best days are behind it (Photo: Chris Jackson/PA)
UK channels
In the UK, meanwhile, Skydance will control assets such as Channel 5 and TNT Sports.
Issues with regulators
Paramount, which was bought by Skydance last year, initially launched a hostile approach before gaining the approval of the Warner Bros board.
Britain’s regulators greenlit the deal in August, with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport promising not to intervene after several “legally binding commitments” from Paramount over its footprint in the UK.
The deal had to gain approval from regulators across the world, while also settling a lawsuit lodged by Democratic attorney generals in 12 states seeking to block the merger.
5 min read
Minutes after the merger was complete on Tuesday, Ellison said a slate of new movies would be made by its studios, including from the Harry Potter, DC Comics and Lord of the Rings universes.
But there are fears the merger will significantly reduce competition and diversity in the media – including in the UK, where the new company leapfrogs Sky to become the country’s third most-viewed TV network, once the companies’ more than 50 linear channels (including Channel 5) are added together.
And the new company’s mountain of debt potentially means cuts and layoffs will follow, especially in loss-making news channels.
More hobbits, heroes and wizards
Shortly after the merger was complete, staff got a long memo in their inbox from Ellison and Co-CEO Ynon Kreiz.
It promised they would build “a company that tells great stories in every genre, for audiences everywhere, on every platform”.
They pledged to make at least 30 movies a year, “pairing original stories from today’s most exciting filmmakers with beloved franchises like Harry Potter, Mission: Impossible, The Lord of the Rings, DC, Transformers and Star Trek“. In other words – more superheroes, wizards and hobbits. Or in corporate speak: “Unlocking the full potential of our assets: an unmatched portfolio of brands [and] franchises.”
The Paramount mountain and WB shield will still appear at the start of the films, as brands that disguise the merged management.
On TV, they said, expect “storytelling like Game of Thrones, Landman, NCIS, Tracker and SpongeBob SquarePants“.
David Folkenflik, media correspondent for NPR and author of a book on media empires, told the ABC that the merger was “an extraordinary moment” for Hollywood and the media.
“David Ellison is trying to create a new media empire but on old Hollywood terms, and seeking to compete with these new digital titans of Netflix, Amazon and Apple,” he said.
Who is David Ellison?
The UK government reviewed the merger’s impact on the British media landscape earlier this year, and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy had concerns.
In a letter to Paramount and Skydance in June, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said Nandy wanted to ensure that “no one owner or voice has too much influence over public opinion or the political agenda”.
Ellison is the son of the world’s eighth-richest man, Oracle’s Larry Ellison. Ellison junior’s personal billion-dollar fortune is dwarfed by the estimated $185bn of his father, who personally guaranteed a large chunk of this week’s merger.
Because of the unclear influence of Ellison Snr, Forbes has declined to put Ellison Jr on its billionaires list.
David Ellison is now one of the world’s most powerful media moguls (Photo: Jeenah Moon/Reuters)
Both Ellisons are considered allies of US President Donald Trump. The Wall Street Journal called the relationship “symbiotic”, reporting that Ellison Snr gave $45m to a political non-profit group supporting Trump’s election efforts in 2024, with support continuing after the election. Ellison Jr hosted a dinner for the Trump administration in April and attended the UFC match on the White House grounds in June.
On Wednesday, Ellison Jr said he had “a good relationship” with the Trump administration, but did not want to “politicise” the company and thought it was “important to talk to everybody on both sides of the aisle”.
Trump, asked about the merger on Wednesday, said “they’re terrific people, and it’s going to be a great company”.
Channel interference
According to the DCMS letter, Warner Bros owns 30 linear channels that broadcast in the UK, including CNN, TNT Sports and the Cartoon Network. Paramount owns 20, including Channel 5, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV.
DCMS analysis found that, combined, their viewing share (12 per cent) would be greater than Sky and Channel 4, making them the third-largest linear broadcaster in the UK by audience share. It also noted that the merger “could potentially lead to a loss of a significant presence in an already limited market for children’s linear content”.
The new company also has four streaming services with millions of subscribers in the UK: Discovery+, HBO Max, Paramount+ and Channel 5. Ellison has already indicated he will merge HBO Max and Paramount+.
Nandy was also concerned that the merger had the “potential to result in a concentration of voices in international news programming within the UK. This might happen if, for example, Channel 5 News and CNN were to combine their US and international news programming or if a decision was made to stop broadcasting CNN International altogether”.
The company combines dozens of TV channels
When Skydance took over Paramount last year and installed new leadership at CBS it sparked an internal revolt over claims of editorial interference.
Nevertheless, the UK formally approved the merger in August on several conditions including that Channel 5 will continued to operate as a free-to-air public broadcaster until at least 2034, with its news arm remaining editorially independent from CBS and CNN during that period.
On Tuesday, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper asked Ellison what changes he had in store for CNN, and Ellison did not directly answer, saying only that he “believes deeply in journalism [and] in complete and total editorial independence”.
Folkenflik noted that Ellison was “saying things that I think people are happy to hear and yet long term, he’s not making any firm promises”.
Cuts to come?
The memo obliquely acknowledged that cuts and layoffs are likely to follow the merger.
“We are also targeting at least $6bn in synergies, which will make us leaner and more nimble and free up capital to invest in the stories, creators and technology that matter most,” it said.
Ellison said on Tuesday “most” of the savings would not come from job losses.
Folkenflik said the new company had “the power to drive up cost for the consumer”. Especially in the streaming area, he said, “it’s hard to believe those prices won’t go up”.
“I think the consumers are going to be hit,” he said.