MAM
Heads Up For Tails appoints Swati Mohan as CBO
Mumbai: D2C pet care company Heads Up For Tails (HUFT) has announced the appointment of Swati Mohan as chief business officer (CBO).
Mohan brings with her rich experience of over two decades across media & entertainment, tech and advertising. At HUFT, she will be responsible for scaling growth for the company across levers of brand & marketing, tech advancements, growth partnerships and product innovation, said the statement.
“Mohan is a seasoned professional with a two-decade-long track record as a proven leader and has driven profitable growth in large, multi-channel consumer businesses. She brings significant experience in growing brands, improving operating performance and customer experience and delivering results,” said HUFT founder Rashi Sanon. “Under her leadership, we aim at building a stronger tech platform for all the needs of pets at every stage of their life.”
In her most recent role, Mohan was with Netflix as head of marketing and was part of the core leadership team in the first three years of operation of the streaming platform in India. Prior to Netflix, she was associated with National Geographic and Fox Networks Group as country head for over six years. Her previous stints include companies including Group M, O&M, FBC Media, and Endemol.
An award-winning leader, Mohan has many accolades to her name such as The Economic Times 40 under Forty (2019), CMO for Growth (2020), and Impact Women to watch out for (2018).
“After years of building and scaling global media businesses, I am excited about this leap into the pet care industry; one that is projected to reach over $ two billion over the coming years,” Mohan said. “I look forward to integrating this vision into the next phase of growth where we shall infuse tech & personalisation, e-commerce, content, and community to build out both the brand and business as the go-to platform for any and every pet parent need.”
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.
