This week, industry players faced mounting legal pressure, sweeping job cuts, and major leadership shifts, signalling a period of deep structural change across the industry. On today’s MadTech Daily we cover WBD shareholders approving the Paramount–Skydance deal, WPP restructuring its commerce capabilities, and PayPal targeting streaming TV ads.

Meta found itself under renewed scrutiny as the Consumer Federation of America filed a lawsuit accusing the company of failing to curb scam advertising. The complaint alleges that fraudulent ads have continued to spread across Meta’s platforms despite repeated public commitments to tackle the issue.

Compounding its challenges, Meta is also preparing to cut roughly 10% of its workforce, with layoffs expected to begin in May. Further reductions may follow later in the year as the company continues to recalibrate its operations around AI.

Meanwhile, leadership changes are underway at Apple, where John Ternus has been named CEO successor to Tim Cook. Ternus, a long-time hardware chief, will take over in September as Cook transitions to executive chairman, marking a significant shift for the iPhone maker after more than a decade of stable leadership.

In AI, closer ties between Big Tech and government are emerging. Google is reportedly in talks with the Pentagon to deploy its Gemini AI models in classified environments, a move that highlights the growing strategic importance of artificial intelligence in defence.

The UK media sector is grappling with its own pressures. Radiocentre has urged MPs to reject any plans to introduce advertising on BBC platforms, warning it could disrupt the audio market and dilute the broadcaster’s public service remit.

At the same time, the BBC is planning job cuts of up to 2,000 roles, as it looks to close a widening financial gap driven by rising production costs and pressure on licence fee income. The move reflects broader strain across the publishing and broadcasting landscape.