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Sahara One’s Filmy appoints AMO as creative agency
MUMBAI: Sahara One’s upcoming Hindi movie channel Filmy, which will be launched on 25 October has roped in AMO Communications as its creative agency.
Sahara One CEO Shantonu Aditya says, “I’m happy to say that we have finalised AMO Communications as the creative agency for Filmy, which will present a whole new world of Bollywood entertainment with movies and innovative programming, presented in a unique style.”
AMO Communications Pvt Ltd MD Elvis Dias says, “AMO is privileged to have this opportunity to work on so unique and distinctive a channel. Filmy is sure to win the eyeballs of the masses as well as the competition by virtue of the fact that it is such a unique and entertaining concept. We are going at it with all guns blazing.”
Filmy will put to good use Sahara One’s strong library of movies, as also the leadership position of Sahara One Motion Pictures, which has over 40 movie projects in hand, of which at least 20 are on the floor.
“We plan to put our leadership position in the Motion Pictures business and our strengths in the GEC arena to good use. The core team of Filmy has crafted out the channel personality, programming, look and feel, and we are extremely excited about the way things have shaped up for the new channel,” Aditya said.
On why he feels AMO bagged the Filmy account in a multi-agency pitch, Dias says, “While everyone would like to claim that they have great ideas to entertain the masses who mainline on the small screen, I’d say we bagged this account due to the fact that the passion of my team matched that of the team at Filmy, who liked our ideas for the upcoming channel.”
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.
