The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday gave the green light to the $8.4 billion merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media – finally clearing the way for a deal that had been throttled by allegations of bias against CBS News.
The merger, expected to be completed in the next few weeks, will give independent film studio Skydance control of CBS, Paramount Pictures, the Paramount+ streaming service, as well as cable channels that include MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.
The approval from the FCC, headed by President Trump-nominated chair Brendan Carr, comes three weeks after Paramount paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump over a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that aired in October.
Helping to seal the thumbs up from the FCC, by a 2-1 vote, were assurances from Skydance CEO David Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and investment partner RedBird Capital, of their commitment to unbiased journalism that represents diverse viewpoints.
Skydance said it would appoint an ombudsman to evaluate complaints of editorial bias or other concerns about CBS in an effort to promote transparency and increased accountability.
Paramount also eliminated its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to align with the Trump administration’s view that such affirmative action policies are discriminatory.
“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly,” Carr wrote in a statement Thursday.
“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.”
Both Skydance and Paramount declined to comment after the news was announced late Thursday.
Media heiress Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global, is set to receive $1.75 billion in cash once the deal closes and she will exit the merged company’s board of directors.
The FCC’s approval to transfer broadcast licenses for 28 owned-and-operated CBS television stations to the new owners comes a week after CBS canceled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” calling it a “purely a financial decision.”
The top-rated late-night show had reportedly been losing roughly $40 million a year.
Trump had sued Paramount for $20 billion, alleging the Harris interview had been deceptively edited in order to interfere with the 2024 election.
CBS denied any wrongdoing but settled the lawsuit in order to avoid a costly legal battle that could potentially hold up its mega-merger with Skydance.
Earlier this week, Trump said the settlement was actually for $36 million, with the new owners agreeing to spend $20 million in public service ads for pro-MAGA causes.
“After months of cowardly capitulation to this administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted,” said Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the dissenting voter for the merger.
Under the deal, Skydance – which has produced blockbuster hits “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Mission:Impossible -The Final Reckoning” – and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital will buy Redstone’s shares of National Amusements, Paramount’s majority owner.
Then, Skydance will merge with Paramount to become “Paramount Skydance Corp.” It will be controlled by the Ellison family but will remain publicly traded.
David Ellison will take over as chairman and chief executive, while Jeff Shell, a former CEO of NBCUniversal, will grab the reins as president.
Redstone served as Paramount’s chair starting in 2019, when she reunited two family-controlled media companies, Viacom and CBS, which had been separated for more than a dozen years.
At the time, the daughter of the late media mogul Sumner Redstone hoped to better position the company to compete with the world’s entertainment giants.
Paramount has since shed billions of dollars in market valuation as it struggled to navigate an entertainment business upended by the streaming video revolution.
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