MAM
Dainik Bhaskar bets on broadcast veteran to crack the south
NEW DELHI: Dainik Bhaskar Group is punching south. The Hindi newspaper giant has hired Durga Chakraborty as corporate sales head for south India, banking on her 20-year track record across broadcast, print and digital to unlock growth in markets where it needs it most.
Chakraborty arrives from Sony Pictures Networks India, where she spent eight years as associate vice president leading sales for SAB TV, the broadcaster’s free-to-air channels, kids’ programming and English entertainment cluster. Those who’ve worked with her say she’s handled heavyweight client mandates and steered regional expansion strategies across platforms.
At Dainik Bhaskar, she’ll report to chief operating officer for corporate sales Mayar Penkar. Her brief: drive corporate sales strategy, design customer-centric offerings and build teams capable of delivering on DB Corp’s advertising and brand solutions ambitions in the region.
The appointment signals intent. Dainik Bhaskar is scaling its southern footprint, and Chakraborty’s hire suggests it’s serious about translating regional presence into advertising revenue. Penkar reckons her industry chops and client focus will help forge stronger market partnerships.
Her career spans stints at Turner Broadcasting, where she grew regional revenues by 40 per cent, and Radio City, along with a detour to Dallas selling digital products for the Dallas Observer. Now she’s back, tasked with making the south pay for India’s biggest Hindi newspaper group.
Whether she can crack a region dominated by vernacular players and entrenched competitors will determine if this bet pays off.
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.
