Nandy ‘minded to intervene’ in Paramount’s £85bn Warner Bros takeover Media Culture secretary Lisa Nandy will ask the competition and media watchdogs to probe Paramount’s £85bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery to ensure the mega-deal doesn’t stifle the breadth of Britain’s media ecosystem. The Wigan MP said on Tuesday that she planned to authorise both the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Ofcom to examine the [...]
SailGP complete sale of last team in fleet to former McLaren and Everton investors Sport Business SailGP chiefs have hailed “a very significant milestone” after MSP Sports Capital’s majority buyout of the New Zealand team took the final outfit into private ownership. Private equity firm MSP sold its stake in McLaren’s Formula 1 team last year and previously loaned £185m to Everton for the construction of their Hill Dickinson Stadium. The [...]
Billionaire Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings quits after earnings miss Media The billionaire co-founder and chair of Netflix has quit after the streaming giant’s weak financial outlook spooked the market. Reed Hastings, who co-founded Netflix 29 years ago, told investors he will not stand for re-election in June and will focus on philanthropy once he leaves the firm. The shock departure comes after the streaming giant [...]
Oracle chops headcount as AI reshapes Big Tech workforce April 1, 2026 Oracle has begun a new round of global job cuts, as the software giant ramps up spending on AI infrastructure and follows a broader wave of layoffs across Big Tech. Employees across multiple divisions, including cloud, health, sales and Netsuite, were informed on Tuesday that their roles had been eliminated with immediate effect. In a [...]
Paramount outguns Netflix for Warner Bros February 27, 2026 Paramount Skydance has emerged victorious in the months-long battle for Warner Bros Discovery, after Netflix refused to raise its offer for the Hollywood giant. The streaming group confirmed it would not match Paramount’s latest $31 (£23)-per-share bid, ending an $83bn pursuit that had threatened to reshape the entertainment sector. “We’ve always been disciplined, and at [...]
Netflix flashes the cash to end Hollywood’s bidding war January 14, 2026 Netfix is reportedly readying an all-cash offensive to secure its long-awaited $83bn takeover of Warner Bros, in a move set to kill off a persistent hostile bid from rival Paramount Skydance. The Los Gatos streaming giant is set to snub the cash and stock bid in favour of a simpler, hard-currency deal, as it aims [...]
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 [...]
Oracle: Billionaire backer of Donald Trump to invest billions in the UK March 17, 2025 Oracle, the US technology giant founded by a major billionaire backer of Donald Trump, has announced plans to invest $5bn (£3.9bn) in the UK. The company, which was co-founded by Larry Ellison, said it will invest the money over the next five years to ‘meet the rapidly growing demand for its cloud services in the [...]
Google parent firm Alphabet drops pledge on using AI tech for weapons and surveillance February 5, 2025 Google’s parent company Alphabet has removed its commitment to avoiding artificial intelligence (AI) applications for weapons and surveillance from its ethical guidelines. The tech behemoth stressed the importance of collaboration between businesses and democratic governments to develop AI that “protects people, promotes global growth, and supports national security.” The revised guidelines were announced in a [...]