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Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount Skydance Clear Shareholder Vote

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The Warner Bros. shareholder vote

Over 1.7 billion votes in favor against roughly 16.3 million opposed. Warner Bros Discovery shareholders approved the $110 billion Paramount Skydance merger on April 23, and the margin was not close. Anyone running 1xbet site ROI numbers across entertainment sector positions watched WBD shares trade in a tight band near the $31 cash offer through April, the kind of price action that confirms what the wagering markets had already settled on. Paramount beat Netflix in a months-long bidding war for Warner Bros that started in late 2025, and David Ellison now sits weeks away from running the largest media conglomerate assembled since the breakup of the old studio system.

What the $110 Billion Deal Looks Like on Paper

Paramount acquires 100% of WBD in an all-cash deal backed by committed investment from the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners. The SEC filing from February 27 laid out the financial architecture, and the numbers below capture the key terms.

Deal Detail Figure
Price per WBD share $31 cash
WBD equity value $81 billion
Enterprise value $110 billion
EBITDA multiple 7.5x (synergized 2026)
New Paramount shares issued $47 billion at $16.02
Minimum annual theatrical releases 30 films

Warner Bros film studio, HBO, CNN, TBS, TNT, CBS, Nickelodeon, and both companies’ television and film libraries all end up under one roof. Paramount committed to 30 theatrical releases a year in the filing, and the streaming side is where the growth bet sits. That much content in one place gives the merged entity a licensing position nobody else in the industry can match, and it also gives every sportsbook chasing broadcast-integration deals exactly one phone number to call when they want their odds overlays sitting alongside live sports.

How the Bidding War Played Out

Netflix went after WBD first. Paramount Skydance came in over the top, and by February 26 WBD’s board called it a superior proposal, with the definitive agreement signed the next morning. They set the shareholder vote for April 23 at 10 AM. It went 1.743 billion shares in favor, 16.3 million against, and 2.37 million abstaining.

Wagering markets had the outcome priced in long before the ballots were counted. Polymarket contracts on deal completion traded heavily through March and April at implied probabilities above 75%, and the gap between WBD’s trading price and the $31 offer shrank to under a dollar heading into the meeting. Anyone holding the deal-completion side of those contracts walked into the vote with a position the markets had already validated. The question on the table was the timing of the cash, not the outcome of the vote.

Regulatory Review and What Stands Between the Vote and Completion

Antitrust regulators on both sides of the Atlantic get the file next, along with a North American competition bureau that opened its review the same day shareholders voted. Hollywood is not thrilled either. Several high-profile entertainment figures have gone public with concerns about what a combined entity this size does to creative independence and working conditions on set.

For the sports betting industry, the regulatory holdup creates an unusual planning window. Sportsbooks running broadcast-integrated products, the kind that overlay live odds on game telecasts and tie promotions to specific media properties, typically negotiate those deals broadcaster by broadcaster. A combined Paramount-WBD would shrink the negotiating universe to one entity sitting on AFC football coverage at CBS, the cable sports wing through TNT, and the streaming distribution running underneath both. That changes leverage on both sides of the table.

Specific properties make the leverage explicit. NFL AFC games and college football sit at CBS. MLB postseason and the cable sports tier live at TNT. March Madness has been split between the two networks since 2011 under a deal that runs through 2032, which means a closed merger puts the entire tournament on one combined network platform for the first time. Sportsbooks negotiating in-stream odds overlays, contextual ads, and content partnerships across those properties currently run two separate tracks for the two broadcasters. After integration, those tracks collapse into a single conversation.

Ellison’s pitch to regulators has to be that consumers benefit and competition survives in streaming, theatrical distribution, and sports broadcasting. If the deal closes, premium scripted content, live sports rights, and cable news distribution all land under one company.

What Oddsmakers and Prediction Markets Are Watching

Completion timelines for deals this size typically stretch six to twelve months past the shareholder vote. Wagering lines on the merger closing before the end of 2026 reflect a split opinion, with Polymarket traders pricing it at roughly 55%. Regulatory conditions could push the timeline into early 2027. Books pricing media-sector futures contracts beyond the close itself, including first quarterly earnings and the sports-rights renewal cycles that follow, have already started taking positions, which is the cleanest tell that the integration is being priced as something more than a paperwork formality. Contracts pricing tighter regulatory conditions, including potential divestitures or behavioral remedies, have started attracting their own volume. That is a step further out the curve than where prediction markets typically sit on M&A timelines this early in the process.

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan. Mr Olowookere can be reached via [email protected]

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Samuel Obinna Positions Skite as Nigeria’s Creator Economy Future

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Samuel Obinna Skite

By Adedapo Adesanya

Mr Samuel Obinna, founder and chief executive of Skite, has announced the company’s expanded focus on Nigeria’s fast-growing knowledge economy with a platform designed to help creators and professionals monetise expertise from a single system.

Skite is building an all-in-one infrastructure for knowledge entrepreneurs, enabling users to sell courses and digital products, host paid communities, run live events, offer one-on-one consultations, and manage audience monetisation without relying on multiple tools.

According to Mr Obinna, the platform is aimed at solving a long-standing fragmentation problem in the creator economy, where professionals are forced to combine several apps to manage payments, content delivery, community engagement, and marketing.

He said early users on Skite have recorded up to 30 per cent increases in revenue after consolidating their operations on the platform, while premium users benefit from a zero transaction fee model.

“The knowledge economy is creating unprecedented opportunities for professionals to earn from what they know,” Mr Obinna said, adding that, “Skite exists to provide the infrastructure that makes it easier to build and scale those businesses in one place.”

He told Business Post that the idea for Skite was shaped by his personal experience with content creation.

According to him, he had previously explored teaching and sharing knowledge through content online, but found it difficult to monetise consistently.

He noted that much of the value he was putting out was being consumed for free without a structured system for earning from it. That experience, he said, influenced his decision to build Skite as a platform where creators and professionals can directly convert expertise into income.

He further stated that the platform is targeting a growing wave of creators, coaches, consultants, and educators in Nigeria who are shifting toward structured knowledge-based businesses rather than traditional content-driven influence alone.

Mr Obinna added that Skite’s long-term vision is to become the core operating system for knowledge entrepreneurs across emerging markets, simplifying how expertise is packaged, sold, and scaled.

Skite is an all-in-one creator monetisation platform that enables knowledge creators to build, grow, and monetise their businesses from a single system.

The platform provides tools for selling courses and digital products, hosting paid communities, running live events, offering one-on-one consultations, monetising direct audience interactions and managing sales funnels. Skite is designed to help creators turn expertise into sustainable and scalable income.

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What to Watch This Week: 5 Movies You Shouldn’t Miss

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What to Watch This Week

What happens when a woman who has built her entire identity on control suddenly wakes up with none of it? In Little, Jordan Sanders, a powerful tech mogul known for her strict and unapologetic leadership style, finds herself trapped in the body of her teenage self right before a career-defining moment. Forced to relive life from a completely different perspective, she has to navigate school, friendships, and adulthood pressures all at once, while trying to fix a life that is quickly slipping out of her control. To catch Little, tune in on Movie Room Africa on Tuesday, June 17, at 6:40 AM.

Stories like this are part of what makes this week’s viewing lineup worth tuning into.

Across DStv and GOtv, a fresh mix of titles is currently airing, bringing together drama, romance, comedy, action, and suspense for every kind of viewer. From emotional family conflicts and psychological twists to superhero adventures and light-hearted rom-coms, there’s something new every day for viewers looking to unwind with a good story.

If you’re looking for something fresh to watch, here are the movies you can catch this week.

The Other One

What begins as a desperate attempt to survive soon takes a disturbing turn in this psychological thriller. After being kidnapped, a woman devises an unusual escape plan: gaining her captor’s trust by pretending to care for him. But as the lines between manipulation and genuine emotion begin to blur, both find themselves trapped in a dangerous relationship neither can control.

Showing on Africa Magic Showcase on Tuesday, June 16 at 3:30 PM.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Being a superhero is no easy task, especially when you’re still trying to survive high school. Peter Parker must balance everyday teenage life with the responsibilities that come with being Spider-Man as he faces off against Adrian Toomes, also known as The Vulture, whose dangerous weapons operation threatens countless lives.

Showing on Movie Room Africa on Friday, June 19 at 8:00 PM.

Shazam!

Life changes in an instant for a troubled teenager when a mysterious wizard grants him extraordinary powers. But while being a superhero sounds exciting, he soon learns that great abilities come with even greater responsibilities. As he struggles to balance his newfound identity, a dangerous enemy emerges, threatening not just him but everyone around him.

Showing on Studio Universal on Saturday, June 20 at 5:00 PM.

Asoebi Mamas

Family tensions take centre stage in this drama about privilege, resentment and responsibility. Ajoke enjoys a lavish lifestyle while paying little attention to the hardworking stepdaughters under her roof. But when long-standing grievances begin to surface, her actions threaten to upend the family’s fragile balance.

Showing on Africa Magic Family on Friday, June 19 at 10:00 AM.

Whether you’re planning a quiet evening indoors or simply looking for something new to watch, these titles offer the perfect excuse to settle in and press play.

To upgrade, subscribe or reconnect, download the MyGOtv App or dial *288#. For catch-up and on-the-go viewing, download the GOtv Stream App and enjoy your favourite shows anytime, anywhere.

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MasterChef Nigeria: Loye Gets Burnt by Jollof Challenge

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MasterChef Nigeria Loye Jollof Challenge

The heat was turned all the way up in the MasterChef Nigeria kitchen as the Top 6 faced another Black Apron Day, where one contestant’s dream would come to a boil.

This week’s challenge was a true Nigerian classic with a competitive twist: the contestants had to create a Jollof Rice Feast inspired by two regions of Nigeria. With jollof rice sitting proudly at the heart of Nigerian food culture, the judges were looking for bold flavours, regional identity, strong execution and, most importantly, a dish where jollof was the star of the plate.

For Loye, however, the challenge did not come together the way he had hoped. He was not fully satisfied with the dish he presented, and the judges shared the same concerns. While there were elements of promise, they felt he did not hero the jollof rice enough in a challenge where the beloved dish needed to take centre stage.

Chef Stone acknowledged Loye’s potential, saying he could build himself into a MasterChef, but on the day, the dish was not enough to keep him in the competition. Chef Eros encouraged him to cook with more heart, reminding him that great food is not only about technique, but also emotion, confidence and connection.

After a tough tasting, Loye’s MasterChef Nigeria journey came to an end.

Also feeling the heat were Isabella and David, who joined Loye in the bottom three.

For Isabella, the challenge was an important opportunity to prove that she belonged in the MasterChef kitchen after last week’s disastrous cake bake. She hoped her jollof rice feast would be the dish to take her out of the danger zone, but the judges felt there were too many flavours competing on the plate.

David also found himself under pressure after failing to complete his dish on time, a costly mistake that landed him among the weakest cooks of the day.

But while some dishes struggled to find their rhythm, Favy had every reason to celebrate. Even with the immunity pin in her possession, she cooked with confidence and delivered the standout plate of the day. Her dish earned high praise from the judges for its great flavours, leaving her visibly emotional and overjoyed. In recognition of her outstanding performance, Favy was rewarded with a one-year supply of Sonia products, as well as an exclusive dining experience for her and her family at Ile Eros.

With Loye now eliminated, the competition has officially reached boiling point. The remaining contestants will need to bring more than just seasoning to survive — they will need heart, hustle and plates packed with purpose.

Produced by Primedia Group, MasterChef Nigeria is supported by a strong coalition of leading Nigerian brands, including headline sponsor Power Oil, alongside Indomie, Dano Milk, Malta Guinness, Sonia Tomato, Kiara Rice, Golden Penny Flour, Golden Penny Sugar, Golden Penny Garri, Golden Penny Semolina, Golden Penny Chocolate Spread, and Golden Penny Wheat.

MasterChef Nigeria continues on Africa Magic, where the search for Nigeria’s next MasterChef gets hotter with every challenge.

The show airs weekly on Sundays at 7 pm on Africa Magic Showcase and Africa Magic Family, with rebroadcasts on Wednesdays at 6 pm on Africa Magic Showcase and Thursdays at 12 pm on Africa Magic Family. 

Next week on MasterChef Nigeria, the kitchen gets even hotter as the remaining contestants fight to stay in the competition. With Loye gone and the finale getting closer, there is no room for half-baked ideas, shaky execution or dishes that miss the brief. The pressure is rising, the judges are watching every move, and one wrong plate could send another contestant packing.

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