MAM
Adloid appoints Syed Faiz Husain as director of sales
Mumbai: Tech firm Adloid has announced the appointment of Syed Faiz Husain as director of sales. In his new role, Husain would be heading the sales department, managing P&L, and forging growth partnerships.
An alumnus of IIM Lucknow MDP, Husain is an accomplished sales strategist with proven acumen in leading teams, instituting the sales functions, GTM & scaling businesses from the ground up, especially in the digital domain.
“We as a company are pioneering the next phase of digital transformation, moving from digitalisation to virtualisation,” said Adloid co-founder Shorya Mahajan. “Husain’s extensive sales experience and domain knowledge across the digital landscape will add tremendous value to the growth of the company.”
Prior to Adloid, Husain was associated with Network 18 handling the role of sales for Moneycontrol and CNBC TV18. With over 13 years of experience in the digital media landscape, he has worked with media companies such as Hindustan Times, STAR India, NDTV, The Quint and Network 18. During his career span, Husain gained expertise in digital transformation with the new-age digital landscape.
“Adloid is one of the leading platforms in the AR space backed by robust technology and some of the brilliant minds in the industry working for it,” Husain said ton his new role. “I am excited to work with such a passionate team that has charted an unprecedented growth story for the company.”
MAM
Paramount set to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in $81 billion deal
Shareholders back merger, combined entity could reshape streaming and studios.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… consolidation, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster might be happening off-screen. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted in favour of selling the company to Paramount in a deal valued at $81 billion rising to nearly $111 billion including debt setting the stage for one of the biggest shake-ups in modern media. The proposed merger, still subject to regulatory approvals, would bring together a vast portfolio spanning HBO Max, CNN, and franchises such as Harry Potter under the same umbrella as Paramount’s own heavyweights, including Top Gun and CBS.
At the heart of the deal is streaming scale. Executives have indicated plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single platform, potentially creating a stronger challenger to giants like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. Current market data suggests HBO Max holds around 12 per cent of US on-demand subscriptions, compared to Paramount+’s 3 per cent, together still trailing Netflix’s 19 per cent and Disney’s combined 27 per cent via Disney+ and Hulu.
Paramount CEO David Ellison has signalled that while platforms may merge, HBO’s creative identity will remain intact, stating the brand should “stay HBO” even within a broader ecosystem.
Beyond streaming, the deal would redraw the map for film production. Combining two of Hollywood’s oldest studios Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the new entity aims to scale output to over 30 films annually, while maintaining a 45-day theatrical window. Warner Bros. currently commands around 21 per cent of the US box office, compared to Paramount’s 6 per cent, underscoring the strategic weight of the acquisition.
But scale comes with scrutiny. Critics warn that fewer players could mean reduced consumer choice, rising subscription costs, and potential job cuts as the combined company looks to streamline overlapping operations while managing billions in debt.
The news business, too, faces a reset. CNN would join forces at least structurally with Paramount-owned CBS, raising questions about editorial independence and positioning. The merger has already drawn political attention in the United States, particularly given perceived ties between the Ellison family and Donald Trump, though the company maintains that newsroom autonomy will be preserved.
If approved, the deal would mark another milestone in Hollywood’s consolidation wave shrinking the industry’s traditional “big six” studios to a “big four”, with Paramount joining Disney, Universal, and Sony at the top table.
In an industry built on storytelling, this merger may well become its most consequential plot twist yet.
