Paramount-Warner Merger: UK Government "Minded To Intervene"
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said she is “minded to intervene” in Paramount‘s $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
In what could be a spanner in the works for the mega-merger, Nandy has said that she wishes to assess whether the deal is in the best interests of UK audiences on plurality grounds.
The minister has written to Paramount and WBD to outline her position. Both companies have until July 6 to make final representations before Nandy makes a formal decision on an intervention.
Paramount said it was “confident” that the deal does not create a “media plurality issue” and that its timeline for completion in the third quarter of this year will not be delayed.
“Following engagement with the parties and independent research, my department has today written to the current and proposed owners of Warner Bros Discovery on my behalf to inform them that I am minded to intervene,” said Nandy, in a written ministerial statement.
“I am conscious that the proposed acquisition is global in nature,” she added. “In reaching this decision, my focus has been, and will remain, on the UK public interest and the range of services available to UK audiences, including Channel 5, TNT Sports, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and CNN International, as well as Paramount+ and HBO Max.”
In the statement, Nandy said that investigating public interest issues relating to streaming is not covered under the Enterprise Act 2002, but she might “bring forward secondary legislation” to enable Ofcom to examine how the union of Paramount and WBD would impact on-demand services.
She continued: “If I decide to issue an Intervention Notice, the next stage would be for Ofcom to assess and report to me on the public interest considerations, and for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess and report to me on whether a relevant merger situation has been created, and any impact this may have on competition.”
This likely means that the ongoing investigation by the CMA, which opened a merger inquiry this month, will feed into Nandy’s work.
A Paramount spokesperson said: “We are grateful for the continued constructive engagement with all interested government bodies and relevant authorities, including in the UK. We are confident that our proposed transaction does not pose any media plurality issues in the UK and remain confident in our stated transaction timeline.”
Paramount’s takeover of WBD is entering a crunch few weeks in Europe, with the European Commission expected to clear the deal rather than subject it to deeper investigation. The Commission has until July 7 to make a decision.
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Hard to see how the media plurality argument stands up, as neither Paramount or Warner have any significant footprint in the UK. Paramount probably has the largest TV station with 5, but it’s still a minor player and all the rest it owns, and everything from Warners, are minority stations way up in the high cable channel numbers (for those still watching on cable). Neither of them own any meaningful news outlets in the UK.
Paramount+ and HBO Max have significant footprints in the UK for Paramount and WBD.
Channel 5 being a PSB network means that Paramount has an already significant footprint, while WBD with HBO Ma having TNT Sports again gives it a huge landscape. I mean this respectfully, but you are so very wrong in your assessment.
No they don’t. “A report by UK media regulator Ofcom in 2025 grouped Paramount+ with other services such as Discovery+ and Hayu in an “other” bucket that held only 6% of the share of the market, compared with Netflix’s 59%. HBO Max, which launched in the UK in March, likely holds a similarly small slice.”
I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. You’re only talking about the streaming services and haven’t taken into account Leavesden Studios, De Lane Lea, and every other production/post outlet Warner Bros. has in the UK. Merging with Paramount will impact our production industry in a big way – we’re not a tiny little island when it comes to film/TV creation – major franchises, TV series, and the like are cast and filmed here.