Below is a roundup of last week’s notable industry news, with summaries and our opinions. NETWARNSCOVERY IS COMING…

Paramount Skydance and Netflix battle over Warner Bros Discovery
Sources: CNBC, Deadline, The Drum
December 4-9, 2025

Summary: Netflix won the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) on Friday. Days later, Paramount Skydance launched a hostile takeover bid. 

Netflix offered $28 per share, mostly cash, for WBD's studio and streaming assets in a deal valued at $72B. Paramount is offering $30 per share in all cash, going directly to WBD shareholders after the board rejected the same offer last week. The key difference: Netflix only wants the studio and HBO Max, while Paramount wants the whole company, including TV networks like CNN and TNT Sports.

Paramount’s bid is backed by the Ellison family, RedBird Capital, and $54B in debt from Bank of America, Citi, and Apollo. Outside financing comes from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Abu Dhabi's L'imad Holding, Qatar Investment Authority, and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners. 

The Trump administration is looking at Netflix's deal with "heavy skepticism" from an antitrust perspective. Trump said the market share considerations could be a "problem". Netflix would combine the #1 and #3 streaming services, but Paramount's bid would consolidate leading studios and TV programming. 

Opinion: We'll see who ultimately wins. 

Netflix hasn't made many acquisitions in its history. The deal would give Netflix the Warner Bros. theatrical distribution apparatus, plus massive content libraries including DC Studios, HBO, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones.

It would also give Netflix control over more premium video ad inventory. The combined catalog would give advertisers a consolidated buying path and more predictable reach across genres. Industry experts say Netflix's ad business would grow "exponentially" with the added scale, since ad models reward reach and frequency with network effects.

Just as the industry fragmented to compete with Netflix, we're now watching it consolidate back. If this deal happens, it validates that scale beats differentiation in ad-supported streaming. For advertisers, it means easier planning and more brand-safe, long-form content in one place. But it also probably means less room to negotiate on pricing. Premium video CPMs are already high, and Netflix could push them higher. The remaining independents, Peacock, Paramount+, smaller players, and the rest of the industry, should brace for further consolidation.

Google Tells Advertisers It’ll Bring Ads to Gemini in 2026 - Google reps recently told advertisers that it planned to roll out ads to its Gemini AI chatbot in 2026, according to an Adweek story. Hours later, Dan Taylor, Google’s VP of Global Ads, said the story "is based on uninformed, anonymous sources who are making inaccurate claims." We know it’ll eventually happen; it’s just a matter of when.

Uber's latest play for ad dollars: turning data about your trips and takeout into insights for marketers - The rideshare company's new data insights platform, Uber Intelligence, lets advertisers combine their customer data with Uber's anonymized trip and delivery information to better understand consumer behavior. Uber built the platform in partnership with LiveRamp's data clean room. Uber Intelligence can help brands identify patterns—like which restaurants hotel guests visit for potential loyalty partnership opportunities—or segment audiences such as "heavy business travelers" to target them with ads during their next airport run. Uber's ad business is expected to reach a $1.5B revenue run rate in 2025, a 60% jump from last year. 

WPP estimates commerce media spending to overtake TV this year - Commerce media will account for 15.6% of global ad spend in 2025, compared to 14.6% for linear and connected TV combined, according to WPP's latest projections. The appeal is clear: Commerce media can directly connect ad exposure to purchases in a way traditional TV can't. WPP Media also expects total 2025 global ad spend will reach $1.14T, a 7.9% increase from 2024. Search advertising growth will decelerate after 2026 as consumer habits shift toward social and AI-powered search platforms, according to WPP, signaling another major shift in the digital advertising landscape. 

Teads is laying off staff 10 months after closing its merger with Outbrain - The layoffs will affect less than 10% of Teads' employees, which totaled about 1,800 in November. 

Advertising giant WPP relegated from FTSE 100 after nearly 30 years - WPP was once the world's largest agency holding company, but since 2017, its market valuation has nosedived from nearly $32B to $4B.

MrBeast is building a platform to connect creators and big advertisers - The popular YouTuber wants to match Fortune 1,000 marketers with creators who align with their brands and campaign goals. 

Cadent Acquires YouTube Advertising Company VuePlanner - VuePlanner specializes in contextual advertising and media planning.

Nielsen strengthens ties with Amazon advertisers via audience segments - Advertisers can use Nielsen Marketing Cloud audience segments through the Amazon DSP and Amazon Marketing Cloud data clean room.

Criteo Lays Out Its AI Ambitions And How It Might Make Money From LLMs - Criteo's new AI tech includes an integration with an unnamed LLM. The idea would be to have Criteo’s product recommendation engine power AI product recommendations for consumers. It could also power product ads served within LLMs.

PubMatic Strikes Deal With Startup Kontext to Inject Ads Into AI Chatbots Via Programmatic Auctions - Advertisers will be able to place ads in consumer AI interfaces like Liner AI and Deep AI using PubMatic’s SSP or DSP of their choice.

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