Paramount has two asks for British authorities: Approve the Warner Bros. Discovery mega-merger and slash UK tax break thresholds.
The latter request was on the agenda on the Inventive Cities Conference in Liverpool on Wednesday, the place Paul Testar, a drama commissioner at Paramount-owned community 5, appealed to the federal government to reform high-end TV tax incentives.
5 has gone from commissioning 12 hours of drama in 2019 to greater than 100 hours in 2026, however the community produces lots of its collection abroad in places like Malta and Lithuania, the place it may entry tax breaks which can be extra aggressive than these on residence soil.
Testar advised Inventive Cities delegates that “tens of tens of millions of enterprise” may return to the UK if the tax break, which pays out round 25% for reveals costing greater than £1M ($1.36M) per hour, was halved to £500,000.
He added that this was a part of 5’s plans to proceed rising its drama slate, which includess Yorkshire-produced hit All Creatures Nice and Small. “It has change into more durable to make drama typically, however now we have discovered a method to develop yearly, and we’re persevering with to take action,” Testar defined.
Testar’s intervention isn’t the primary time a 5 govt has commented on tax breaks, and the community’s place enjoys broad help throughout the British scripted group. The UK authorities has up to now declined to heed the decision of the business, nonetheless. The 2025 finances delivered nothing by way of tax credit score calls for.
In the meantime, Paramount executives might be intently watching how the UK’s antitrust authority handles its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. The Competitors and Markets Authority sought feedback from events final month — a primary step in direction of commencing a deeper examination of a deal that may reshape the worldwide media panorama.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison visited the UK earlier this yr as a part of a attraction offensive of European regulators. He met with UK tradition secretary Lisa Nandy, in addition to outstanding European creatives.
