Bectu urges Government intervention over Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger

Bectu has written to Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries, Ian Murray, calling for Government intervention in the proposed merger between Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery, warning that the deal risks increasing insecurity for creative workers and further concentrating media power in the UK. 

In a letter to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Bectu set out concerns about the impact of the merger on the creative workforce, particularly freelancers, and urged ministers to intervene to protect plurality in UK media ownership. 

The proposed merger comes at a time of sustained disruption across the industry. In Bectu’s latest survey of more than 500 screen industry workers, 39.5% reported that they were not currently working, only a marginal improvement on findings from Bectu’s Big Survey 2025 , which showed around 43% out of work across film and television. Nearly one in three creative workers expects to have left the industry within five years, raising serious concerns about the loss of skills, experience and future talent. 

Alongside writing to DCMS, Bectu has also submitted evidence to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), outlining how the merger could reduce competition, narrow commissioning and result in fewer films screening in UK cinemas, with serious implications for cinema workers. Bectu has urged the CMA it to fully consider workforce impacts, as previous merger reviews have repeatedly failed to account for the predominantly freelance nature of the creative workforce who must absorb the risks of cancelled commissions and shorter production slates. 

Head of Bectu Philippa Childs said: 

“This merger comes at exactly the wrong moment for a film industry workforce already facing prolonged insecurity and prolonged periods out of work. Further consolidation risks reducing opportunities, weakening bargaining power and concentrating decisions about jobs and investment even further from the people whose livelihoods depend on them.”