FCC endorses union between Skydance and Paramount, concluding a prolonged period of speculation spanning over a year.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has given its approval to the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media, marking a significant step forward for the media giants. The deal, worth $8 billion, was approved by a 2-1 vote, with Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez dissenting.
The approval comes with a set of commitments from Skydance Media aimed at addressing concerns about bias, accuracy, and fairness in news programming. These commitments include:
- Promoting ideological diversity: Skydance has promised to review CBS programming and host a range of political perspectives to address concerns about bias and ideological diversity.
- Creating an independent ombudsman role: An ombudsman will be hired to evaluate complaints of bias in CBS News programming, a role that will exist for at least two years.
- Discontinuing DEI practices: Skydance has committed to eliminating what FCC Chair Brendan Carr called "invidious forms" of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) measures at the network, emphasizing a shift toward viewpoint diversity rather than identity-focused programming.
- Making significant changes to CBS broadcast network programming: These changes are aimed at improving trust and fairness in the legacy national news media controlled by CBS.
The commitments are intended to begin the process of earning back Americans' trust and adopting measures to root out bias in the national news media. Skydance's agreement to these commitments was crucial for FCC chair Brendan Carr, who welcomed Skydance's commitment to make significant changes at CBS.
The merger review process was allegedly affected by political interference due to President Trump's criticism of Paramount's CBS News division. However, the FCC chair moved to have his fellow commissioners vote on the merger on Thursday, and the merger was formally approved by the Trump administration.
In addition to these commitments, Skydance has also pledged not to implement any new DEI policies. This commitment, if implemented, would enable CBS to operate in the public interest and focus on fair, unbiased, and fact-based coverage.
Meanwhile, Paramount agreed to pay $16 million toward Trump's future presidential library earlier this month. This payout was made to resolve the president's legally dubious lawsuit against CBS News. Some Democratic senators likened the payout to a "bribe" in exchange for merger approval, but both Paramount and the FCC insist it was unrelated.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available. The approval means that Skydance can complete the deal and take control of Paramount in the coming weeks.
- The commitments made by Skydance Media, as part of the merger with Paramount Global, include a promise to promote ideological diversity in their programming to address concerns about bias.
- The FCC's approval of the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media was accompanied by a significant set of commitments from Skydance aimed at addressing concerns about bias, accuracy, and fairness in news programming.
- As part of the merger commitments, Skydance has pledged not to implement any new diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, a move intended to enable CBS to operate in the public interest and focus on fair, unbiased, and fact-based coverage.
