The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the $8 billion merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media.
The approval came a little over a year after the two companies agreed to the merger. On Thursday, the FCC officially approved 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,” according to Variety.
The FCC approved the deal by a vote of 2-1, with only Commissioner Anna Gomez (a Biden appointee) opposing it on the grounds of Paramount recently settling a lawsuit with President Trump, which critics say amounted to a bribe.
“After months of cowardly capitulation to this Administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted,” Gomez said in her dissent. “Unfortunately, it is the American public who will ultimately pay the price for its actions.”
Skydance previously made an agreement with the FCC to cut Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs will be shutdown after the merger as well as to appoint an ombudsman to review “complaints of bias or other concerns” involving CBS as part of ensuring “viewpoint diversity.” Per Variety:
In letters addressed to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, Skydance’s top lawyer said Skydance will install an ombudsman to review “complaints of bias or other concerns” involving CBS as part of ensuring “viewpoint diversity” and that Skydance has confirmed that Paramount has eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The Skydance exec — Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, general counsel and co-president of business operations — also said the company doesn’t have DEI policies and pledged to not implement any in the future. The letters, both dated July 22, were posted publicly on the FCC website on Wednesday.
In a meeting last week with Carr and other FCC officials, Skydance CEO David Ellison had expressed Skydance’s “commitment to unbiased journalism and its embrace of diverse viewpoints, principles that will ensure CBS’s editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers,” per a company FCC filing.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr welcomed the changes.
“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.”
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
Read the full article here