But this is far from a mere financial story, for the prize pot for the victors is the back catalogue of such touchstones as the sitcom Friends and the Game of Thrones franchise. And the day now appears to be fast approaching when Paramount (already the rights owners of Yellowstone and Star Trek) also gets its clutches on the likes of Joey Tribbiani and Jaime Lannister.
TV shows once available to everybody are already now siloed away on streaming services, but this deal will give Paramount control over two substantial players: Paramount+ and HBO Max. In the US, plans are already afoot to combine them into one platform, though HBO Max is set to be rolled out here in the UK as a separate entity.
Those who came of age in the terrestrial-only era can recall a time when TV in Britain at least had a truly cohesive quality. Unlike newspapers (which divided their readers along political lines) or cinema and theatre (where admission was gained only with a ticket), television belonged to everyone. It was common cultural ground – a landscape where ITV could air both Bullseye and The South Bank Show, while the BBC showed ‘Allo ‘Allo! and Arena.
For evidence of a social leveller, look to those TV schedules. Channels may have been few, but their reach was nationwide. But the era of entry without exclusion was not to last. An early sign of a rope barrier being put in place came with the launch in 1989 of satellite broadcaster Sky.
It was sold to us as greater choice, but what Sky really represented was the start of television being a paid-for commodity. Circle back to Friends and you can see that tiering of TV in action.
Spool forward to 2026 and Friends is again being used as an enticement to subscribe. After being removed from Netflix in the UK in December 2025, it’s now getting promoted as a key part of HBO Max’s line-up.
So, a series that was once a fixture in TV’s public square is now being fought over in the equivalent of private members’ lounges. Looking at the fate of Friends, it’s difficult not to conclude that television hasn’t so much evolved as been fenced off.
At times, it can feel as though there are more platforms than there are eyeballs to watch them. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+ – as the options increase, our bank balances deplete, as the medium that once needed little more than a licence and an aerial now requires multiple monthly direct debits.
Yet there’s a paradox at the heart of this age of apparent proliferation. For while we have more platforms to choose from than ever, there are now fewer people in charge. The audience may be fragmenting, but ownership is clustering. And if we can’t afford to watch everything, it’s worth querying who’s in control of what’s on offer.
Eyebrows have already been raised at the friendly relationship between Paramount boss David Ellison and the White House. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, donated $1m to the president’s inauguration fund in 2025, with Prime Video releasing a documentary the following year focused on the first lady.
Television, an art form that once reflected our broad social palette, now finds its boardrooms preoccupied with US politics. And the danger is that with a narrower appetite for risk, viewers will be exposed to a shrinking range of viewpoints. Might we end up paying a premium price for streaming services afraid to offend?
But when political leaders go on the attack or frame creatives as ideological enemies, global brands begin to fret about share price. In the broadcast era of old, networks could be brave and contain any loss – now, controversies have the potential to reverberate across the markets.
Watercooler moments are slowing to a trickle and national viewing events have become fewer in number. Programmes that once worked on us as a collective have now become niche. TV has gone from the living room to the laptop, while the licence fee now exists alongside the payment plan.
As ownership contracts, caution increases and prices rise, what was once a national conversation becomes monetised and hyper-targeted. A culture that was once bound together is now being packaged up and sold back to us in pieces.
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