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MindShare lures media wiz M.Suku for BroadMind
MUMBAI: Mindshare South Asia chief Andre Nair is gradually unveiling his gameplan for the media powerhouse in India. His main task has been bringing in professionals to head the various ventures which he sees as being part of the MindShare network in India. First, ex-Star India marketing and former Coke marketing head Vikram Sakhuja hopped on as managing director of MindShare-Fulcrum.
Now, Nair has lured M.Suku who used to buy media for Levers in the early nineties and then went on to work with ABCL and later Reliance Entertainment. His role according to industry sources is to head non-traditional media services under BroadMind. The job was his because of his wide-ranging exposure to media, and the entertainment business. Suku was not available for comment but sources indicate that he will be joining MindShare on 1 February.
BroadMind, according to the MindShare website, offers specialist services in: sponsorship and sports marketing, event/personality marketing, advertiser-funded programme supply/barter and consultancy services. The projects MindShare has handled include: The Ford European Champions League Soccer BskyB Sports Sponsorship The Rugby World Cup, The Sony Playstation The Champions League Euro 2000, The Shell Ferrari Challenge, Kellogg’s Frosties Challenge 2000 Training Camp, Amateur Swimming Association Awards Scheme Age Group Championship, The Nestle Birthday Club on Cartoon Network Smarties on GMTV’s Diggit, and Generation Girls ITV’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch for Mattel.
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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.
