MAM
Saatchi & Saatchi Propagate strengthens teams in New Delhi, Bangalore
NEW DELHI: As L&K Saatchi & Saatchi strengthens its creative and planning teams across India, Saatchi & Saatchi Propagate too has announced new additions to its teams. The full-service digital agency has brought onboard Sachin Dhir and Sugandha Garg for its New Delhi and Bangalore offices respectively. Both of them will report to Priya Jayaraman, CEO – Saatchi & Saatchi Propagate.
Welcoming them, Jayaraman said, “I am extremely happy to have Sachin and Sugandha lead our clients to their milestones along with me. We have been an agency focussed relentlessly on client success in the digital landscape that is ever changing and evolving. It needed a team with me that can navigate change, handhold clients into a growth surge and chart a course with them. New Delhi and Bangalore are very important offices for us with an amazing set of clients that we are very proud to partner.”
Dhir joins Saatchi & Saatchi Propagate Delhi from Wunderman Thomson Mirum where he worked on brands like Reebok, Times of India, Verisign, HCL, Sofy, Jagran, Swatch, Pepsi and Facebook.
He says, “Saatchi & Saatchi Propagate comes at the right time in my digital journey as businesses are swiftly transforming and reimagining themselves with customer centricity and engagement not just for communication but also for business growth. With a great team to back me, I am looking forward to this!”
Garg joins the Bangalore team having started her digital journey with Tribal DDB and then moving on to Mindshare, Maxus and Tonic Worldwide. She has experience on brands such as Citibank, Ford, Skoda, IPL, Enamor, Sony Entertainment Network, Sony Bravia, Diageo and Disney. She has also enriched her experience with her own entrepreneurial venture.
She says, “Saatchi & Saatchi Propagate is an opportunity like no other. I am excited to explore the playing field available to me courtesy Publicis Groupe. Leading the Bangalore office under Priya’s tutelage will be an enriching experience and I look forward to doing some exciting work with a very talented team.”
Saatchi & Saatchi Propagate serves a wide range of local and global clients, notably MaxLife Insurance, Max Group, Scripbox, Practo, ESPN CricInfo, Embassy Springs, Tuborg and many more. Known for their ownership-driven and entrepreneurial spirit, they have worked with various clients in drafting their customer journeys that operate at the intersection of media, technology and creativity.
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.
