FCC Approves Paramount-Skydance Deal After Skydance's CBS Ombudsman, Anti-DEI Pledges
The agency OK'd the transfer of licenses for 28 CBS-owned local TV stations to the Skydance-led ownership group that is taking over Paramount Global — removing the merger's final regulatory hurdle. The FCC approval comes more than a year after the parties first announced the agreement.
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With the last obstacle removed, the deal is expected to close in the coming weeks.
The commission voted 2-1 to approve the deal, with Commissioner Anna Gomez opposing it. Gomez, the lone Democrat on the commission, said she was troubled by Paramount's payment to settle a suit brought by President Trump and by other concessions.
'After months of cowardly capitulation to this Administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted,' Gomez said. 'Unfortunately, it is the American public who will ultimately pay the price for its actions.'
The approval by the FCC, led by Trump-appointed chairman Brendan Carr, comes after Skydance made commitments in to the agency in two areas: ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at Skydance and Paramount have been shut down; and appointing an ombudsman to review 'complaints of bias or other concerns' involving CBS as part of ensuring 'viewpoint diversity.' Skydance's top lawyer outlined the pledges in two letters to Carr dated July 22.
'Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change,' Carr said in a statement. 'That is why I welcome Skydance's commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network.'
Paramount Global declined to comment. A rep for Skydance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Carr has been unapologetic in pushing Trump's agenda to eradicate DEI and crack down on alleged 'media bias' in dealing with companies under the FCC's regulatory purview. At the FCC's monthly open meeting earlier Thursday, Carr said he was 'pleased' with Skydance's stated commitments on both fronts, saying, 'They're hitting on issues that I think we need to see significant change on.'
Meanwhile, the FCC approval comes after Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to President Trump to settle his lawsuit against CBS over a '60 Minutes' interview with Kamala Harris. Trump, which had been demanding an absurd $20 billion in damages, alleged the Harris interview was deceptively edited and constituted consumer fraud and interference with the 2024 presidential election. Before settling, Paramount and CBS moved to dismiss Trump's suit as 'an affront to the First Amendment.'
Trump, Paramount and Carr had each claimed that the FCC's deal-approval process was separate from the '60 Minutes' suit — despite allegations from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others that the settlement was a quid-pro-quo to secure the Trump administration's approval of Paramount-Skydance.
Carr, in a Feb. 7 interview with Fox News, said Trump 'has been right on these media bias issues' in discussing the FCC's review of a conservative group's complaint that the '60 Minutes' Harris interview represented 'news distortion.' He previously told Fox News the 'news distortion' complaint would likely factor into the FCC's review of the Skydance-Paramount merger.
Under the Paramount-Skydance deal, announced July 7, 2024, after months of on-again-off-again talks, Larry Ellison (father of David Ellison), Skydance and Gerry Cardinale's RedBird Capital will buy the shares of Shari Redstone's National Amusements Inc. (which owns 77% of the voting power in Paramount Global). At that point Skydance will merge with Paramount to become 'Paramount Skydance Corp.' While it will be controlled by the Ellison family, Paramount Skydance will remain publicly traded.
The new company is to be led by chairman and CEO David Ellison, with Jeff Shell (former CEO of NBCUniversal) installed as president. Shari Redstone is set to receive $1.75 billion in cash upon closing of the Skydance deal, and she will exit the merged company's board.
As the deal had been in limbo pending FCC approval for months, Paramount undertook several rounds of layoffs, as the company's current three co-CEOs — CBS head George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, and Paramount Pictures head Brian Robbins — aimed to slash $500 million in annualized costs.
The trio of co-CEOs are eligible for stepped-up severance payments in the event of a sale or merger. Under revised terms of their employment contracts, Cheeks, McCarthy and Robbins will receive severance payments equivalent to two times their annual base salary plus twice their annual target bonus amount, among other benefits, in the event they're terminated in connection with a sale or merger of Paramount Global (or within two years of such a transaction). In addition, Paramount last fall added a provision to their employment agreements that will let them quit and receive those same severance benefits if they are demoted.
Pictured above (l. to r.): FCC chairman Brendan Carr; Paramount Global chair Shari Redstone; Skydance Media CEO David Ellison
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