I am repeating the following Written Ministerial Statement made today in the other place by my Right Honourable Friend the Secretary of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy MP.

On 30 June 2026, my Department wrote to Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery on my behalf, informing them under the Enterprise Act public interest regime that I was minded to intervene in the proposed merger between the two companies and I issued a Written Ministerial Statement setting this out.

The parties were given the opportunity to make representations to me by 6 July in response to my concerns. Paramount put forward a set of assurances seeking to address the issues I raised. These assurances included a range of commitments on future investment in the UK, maintaining the distinct editorial identities of key services, and the editorial independence of news. Following further discussions with DCMS officials, Paramount offered to strengthen those assurances and turn them into legally-binding commitments by way of a ‘deed of undertaking’ made in my favour.

On 6 August, the Competition and Markets Authority announced their decision that there are no competition aspects of this proposed merger in the UK which necessitate their further intervention.

In parallel, after careful consideration, I decided not to issue a Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN) on the basis that the assurances and further legally-binding commitments I secured from Paramount provide a set of protections that will help safeguard the continued availability of a diverse range of broadcasting and on-demand services in the UK; the continuation of their distinct editorial identities; and the distinct editorial identities of key UK news programmes. Paramount has committed to providing me with annual statements of compliance with the undertakings in the deed, and DCMS will closely monitor their implementation. In the circumstances, I have decided to accept the deed and have informed the parties of my decision. A copy of my Public Statement issued on 6 August, the letter of assurances from Paramount and the Deed can be found on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-statement-proposed-acquisition-of-warner-bros-discovery-by-paramount-decision-of-no-intervention-on-public-interest-intervention-or-foreign-sta.

Having made this decision and informed the parties, I made a public statement on 6 August and wish to formally update Parliament of my decisions now that it has returned from Summer Recess.

I have made this decision based on the specific powers currently available to me under the Enterprise Act 2002, which only relate to matters concerning the UK broadcasting and news media landscape. As set out in the "Watch this Space" Green Paper published on 23 June, the media sector is undergoing a profound and rapid transformation. I believe it is of the utmost importance to protect plurality, diversity and distinct British voices across our wider creative industries, including film, and I share the concerns about the impact consolidation could have on the UK’s creative industries.

I have met with Paramount CEO David Ellison to obtain specific assurances about the impact of this proposed deal on film outputs and diversity of content. I look forward to continuing to work with both Paramount and sector leaders to ensure that our world leading creative industries feel real benefits as a result of these discussions. Beyond this, as set out in my Public Statement, I am also considering all avenues to ensure the government has the ability to protect plurality, diversity and British content when it is under threat.

Video-on-demand services

In my previous Written Ministerial Statement, I noted that should I decide to intervene in this case, I would bring forward secondary legislation to amend the plurality of control public interest consideration set out in the Enterprise Act, to enable Ofcom to examine the impact of the proposed acquisition on video-on-demand services. While DCMS will no longer be bringing forward secondary legislation in relation to this specific merger, I may do so in future, given the role on-demand viewing now plays in the market.

Foreign State Influence regime

Having considered the proposed merger under the statutory Foreign State Influence regime, I have concluded that I do not have reasonable grounds to suspect that my duty to issue a Foreign State Intervention Notice has arisen. I am therefore currently not minded to intervene in this case. I will reassess the position if any new information comes to light suggesting otherwise.

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2026-09-03.hlws315.0