Even as Britain’s government and its ‌competition watchdog cleared Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery yesterday, according to reports, WBD itself missed second quarter revenue expectations, hurt by lackluster box-office performance and soft advertising sales due to the absence of NBA games.

According to a Reuters report yesterday, studio revenue slumped 39 percent, ‌with releases including ‘Mortal Kombat II’ and ‘Supergirl’ failing to replicate the blockbuster success of last year’s ‘A Minecraft Movie’ and ‘Sinners’.

Warner’s film slate is weighted toward the second half of the year, with major releases such as ‘Digger’ and ‘Dune: Part Three’ expected to boost box-office performance.

The absence of NBA games this year, coupled with declines in domestic linear TV audiences, drove a 22 percent drop in Warner Bros’ advertising revenue.

Warner said the 2026 FIFA World Cup reduced its share of viewers and advertising revenue in several markets during June and July.

While revenue at the CNN-owned networks division fell 17 percent, a ⁠23 percent decline in operating expenses due to the absence of costs tied to NBA rights and lower content spending helped Warner post a surprise quarterly profit of 6 cents per share.

The combined HBO Max and Paramount+ service is expected to give greater scale to compete with streaming giants such as Netflix.

Warner Bros Discovery reported revenue of $8.72 billion in the second quarter, well below the expectation of $9.29 billion.

UK Clears WBD-Paramount Merger: Britain’s government and its ‌competition watchdog cleared Paramount’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery yesterday after David Ellison provided reassurances, leaving US states, led by California, as the final major hurdle to the deal, a Reuters report from London added.

Ellison, Paramount Skydance’s chief executive, offered legally binding guarantees of at least five years on programming commissioned in Britain and the independence of Britain’s Channel 5 news, the government said in letters to the ⁠companies.

That was sufficient to answer concerns raised by UK’s Media minister Lisa Nandy, who said in June she could intervene in the deal and potentially order a public-interest investigation despite approvals from regulators in the United States, China and elsewhere.

Paramount has now agreed that the combined group’s linear and on-demand services in Britain would retain distinct editorial identities for five years, including children’s TV channels Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.

Paramount also agreed that the deal would not result in a ⁠reduction in the number of people commissioning content in Britain, nor in any reduction in the quality and range of content commissioned.

The Competition and Markets Authority separately said the deal would not substantially lessen competition in movie distribution, ⁠children’s TV channels and streaming services.