English Entertainment
Paramount rubbishes Warner Bros board’s appeal to shareholders about Netflix’s offer
NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES: Hollywood’s latest battle royale is heating up. Paramount, now owned by Skydance Corp, has fired back at Warner Bros Discovery’s board after they snubbed its $30-per-share all-cash takeover bid. The rejectionists, it seems, prefer Netflix’s embrace—but Paramount isn’t taking no for an answer.
David Ellison, Paramount’s chairman and chief executive, is positively bristling. His company reckons Warner Bros shareholders are being sold a pup by their own board, which recommended a rival Netflix deal that Paramount dismisses as lipstick on a pig. The numbers tell the story: Paramount offers cold, hard cash—$30 per share. Netflix? A measly $23.25 in actual money, plus stock that’s already trading below its “collar” and a stub of Warner Bros’ debt-laden Global Networks business that nobody can value. That’s an $18bn gap, by Paramount’s maths.
The Ellison offensive—backed by Larry Ellison’s family trust, bulging with over $250bn in assets including 1.16bn Oracle shares—has lined up $41bn in equity from the Ellisons and RedBird Capital, plus $54bn in debt from Bank of America, Citi and Apollo. No financing conditions. No ifs, buts or maybes.
What really gets Paramount’s goat is Warner Bros’ refusal even to engage. From mid-September through to early December, not a single negotiating session. Not even a marked-up contract. Warner Bros’ advisors, Paramount notes acidly, have worked with the Ellison trust before—on Twitter’s takeover, no less. Yet suddenly they’re playing coy, spinning a “kitchen sink” of concerns whilst failing to explain why they never bothered getting answers.
Warner Bros’ board hasn’t even determined whether Paramount’s bid “could reasonably be expected to lead to a superior proposal”—the contractual threshold that would let them properly consider it. Instead, they’re racing towards a shareholder vote on the Netflix deal, hoping Paramount will simply bugger off.
Fat chance. Paramount has launched a tender offer, urging Warner Bros shareholders to vote with their wallets now rather than wait months for a special meeting. The message is blunt: take the certain cash today, or risk being left holding Netflix stock and a toxic debt stub tomorrow.
Warner Bros shareholders will ultimately decide whether to trust their board’s Netflix romance or grab Paramount’s guaranteed payout. For now, Ellison and company are betting that when push comes to shove, thirty pieces of silver beats a streaming monopoly’s promise any day of the week.
English Entertainment
ZEE5 UK partners Narrative Entertainment to add UK channels
Six FAST channels added as platform sharpens hybrid play in Britain
LONDON: ZEE5 UK struck a first-of-its-kind deal with Narrative Entertainment, bringing mainstream UK television channels onto an Indian streaming platform as it pushes to deepen its footprint in a crowded, mature market.
The partnership adds six of Narrative’s FAST channels to the service, including Great! Movies, Great! Romance, Great! Mystery and kids brands POP, Tiny Pop and POP UP, widening ZEE5 UK’s appeal across genres and age groups.
The move reflects a clear shift in strategy. ZEE5 UK is betting on a hybrid model that blends on-demand content with curated, always-on channels to drive discovery and increase time spent on the platform.
“This partnership represents a meaningful evolution in how we serve audiences in mature markets like the UK, where viewers are defined by habits, convenience and choice rather than geography or language alone,” said Parul Goel, territory head, Europe, Zee Entertainment. “By bringing trusted mainstream UK channels together with our premium originals, movies and kids’ content, we are building a more consumer-centric platform that simplifies viewing while increasing depth and relevance.”
Fateha Begum, commercial director, Narrative Entertainment, said the tie-up would fuel growth for both sides. “Our portfolio of quality programming, with such wide and enduring appeal, is a perfect complement to ZEE5 UK. This is a strong partnership that will support growth for both parties, and we share Zee Entertainment’s vision of an increasingly partnership-led future for the industry.”
ZEE5’s global library spans over 4,000 films and more than 500 originals, with over 130 new titles added annually. The addition of Narrative’s channels strengthens its kids offering and introduces genre-led linear experiences alongside its on-demand catalogue.
The deal also gives Narrative access to ZEE5 UK’s fast-growing user base, extending reach without diluting brand identity, while reinforcing ZEE5 UK’s network of more than 40 live channels.
As streaming wars intensify, ZEE5 UK is widening its playbook, blending content, convenience and partnerships in a bid to win screen time in one of the world’s toughest markets.
