The Federal Communications Commission has cleared the way for Paramount Global to complete its merger with Skydance Media, announcing Thursday that it has approved the deal. The decision removes a final hurdle for the media and entertainment companies to close their transaction. Paramount is the parent company of CBS.
“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. “It is time for a change. That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network.”
He referenced Skydance’s commitment to hire a CBS News ombudsman to review complaints of editorial bias for a period of at least two years. Skydance also affirmed that the company will not have DEI initiatives.
“Skydance has made written commitments to ensuring that the new company’s array of news and entertainment programming will embody a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum and that CBS’s reporting will be fair, unbiased, and fact-based,” Carr said in the statement.
Carr also noted the company’s commitment to local news coverage and said Skydance “will work closely with its affiliated broadcast stations to ensure a productive partnership that will strengthen its affiliates’ ability to serve their local communities.”
The FCC’s approval, which was necessary for the deal to move forward, caps a long-running corporate saga over the fate of Paramount, which owns Paramount+, the Paramount Pictures movie and television studios, the CBS television network and CBS News and Stations. Paramount also owns Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, Comedy Central and other media brands.
Paramount Global agreed to merge with David Ellison’s Skydance Media in July 2024 after briefly halting negotiations the month before. The deal followed a long, turbulent sales process that drew interest from other major corporate players and investors, including Seagram heir Edgar Bronfman Jr., media mogul Barry Diller, Sony Pictures and private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and Allen Media, the company controlled by former comedian Byron Allen.
Paramount had said it expected to close the $8.4 billion merger in the first half of 2025. But the first half of the year came and went, and the merger remained under review by the FCC and its chair Brendan Carr, who had been appointed to the role earlier this year by President Trump.
Late on July 1, Paramount announced it had settled a lawsuit with Mr. Trump over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, a suit that Paramount told the court was without merit. The company agreed to pay $16 million — most of which would go to Mr. Trump’s presidential library — and agreed to publish transcripts of future “60 Minutes” interviews with presidential candidates after those interviews air on the show. Mr. Trump has since said he expects Paramount’s new owners to offer him about $20 million in advertising and PSAs. Paramount said in a statement it had no knowledge of any commitments to Mr. Trump outside of its $16 million settlement, and Skydance didn’t respond to requests for comment.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the panel, issued a statement on Thursday dissenting from the decision to approve the merger.
“I cannot support this order approving this transaction in light of the payout and other troubling concessions Paramount made to settle a baseless lawsuit,” she wrote. “…In an unprecedented move, this once-independent FCC used its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom.” Carr has said that Mr. Trump’s lawsuit was not a factor in his agency’s review of the deal.
“It is time for companies, journalists, and citizens alike to stand up and speak out, because unchecked and unquestioned power has no rightful place in America,” Gomez said.
