The UK’s Culture Secretary has written to Paramount Skydance Corporation expressing concerns over its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), citing a need for “sufficient plurality of views in news media,” and “sufficient plurality of persons with control of the media enterprises.”
In a written Ministerial Statement, Lisa Nandy MP, the UK’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport confirmed that her Department had written to the current and proposed owners of WBD informing them she is “minded to intervene” on public interest grounds, under the Enterprise Act (2002), inviting the companies to respond by July 6th.
In what the letter said was an “unprecedented” merger, the $110 billion deal follows a series of protracted negotiations and would see Skydance take control of a wide range of services available to British audiences, including Channel 5, TNT Sports, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and CNN International, as well as Paramount+ and HBO Max.
If an intervention notice is issued, Ofcom would assess and report to the Secretary of State on the public interest considerations, alongside an assessment from the Competition and Markets authority on the impact of the merger on competition.
In her statement, Nandy added “It is important to note that I have not taken a final decision on intervention at this stage,” and confirmed she would further update Parliament on her final decision at the earliest opportunity.
