Federal regulators approve Paramount’s $8 billion deal with Skydance, capping months of turmoil

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Associated Press NEW YORK AP Federal regulators on Thursday approved Paramount s billion merger with Skydance clearing the way to close a deal that combined Hollywood glitz with political intrigue The stamp of approval from the Federal Communications Commission comes after months of turmoil revolving around President Donald Trump s legal battle with Minutes the crown jewel of Paramount-owned broadcast setup CBS With the specter of the Trump administration potentially blocking the hard-fought deal with Skydance Paramount earlier this month agreed to pay a million settlement with the president Critics of the settlement lambasted it as a veiled bribe to appease Trump amid rising alarm over editorial independence overall Further outrage also emerged after CBS announced it was canceling Stephen Colbert s Late Show just days after the comedian sharply criticized the parent company s settlement on air Paramount cited financial reasons but big names both within and outside the company have questioned those motives In a report accompanying the deal s approval FCC Chairman Brendan Carr hailed the merger as an opportunity to bring more balance to once-storied CBS Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to document fully accurately and fairly It is time for a change Carr commented Related Articles Mexican national married to a Marine Corps veteran seeks release from immigration custody Judge orders Wisconsin school shooter s father to stand trial on charges he allowed access to guns Minnesota man sentenced to years for crash that killed young women New sentencing dates set for former Memphis Tennessee officers in Tyre Nichols scenario Millions of HydroTech hoses recalled after hundreds burst leaving at least people injured While seeking approval Skydance management assured regulators that it will conscientiously watch for any perceived biased at CBS News and hire an ombudsman to review any complaints about fairness In a Tuesday filing the company s general counsel maintained that New Paramount will embody a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum and also noted that it plans to take a comprehensive review of CBS to make any necessary changes Paramount and Skydance have mentioned they craved to seal the deal by this September and now appear to be on a path to make it happen by then if not sooner Over the past year the merger has periodically looked like it might fall apart as the two sides haggled over terms But the two companies completely struck an accord that valued the combined company at billion with a consortium led by the family of Skydance exposed David Ellison and RedBird Capital agreeing to invest billion Signaling a shakeup would accompany the changing of the guard Ellison stressed the need to transition into a tech hybrid to stay competitive in in the present day s entertainment landscape That includes plans to rebuild the Paramount streaming facility among wider efforts to expand direct-to-consumer offerings in a world with more entertainment options and shorter attention spans Ellison who is poised to become CEO of the restructured Paramount is the son of Larry Ellison innovation titan and co-founder of Oracle Besides possessing an estimated billion fortune Larry Ellison has been described as a friend by Trump While Paramount sweated out regulatory approval of the merger one of TV s best-known and longest-running programs turned into a political hot potato when Trump sued CBS over the handling of a Minutes interview with his Democratic Party opponent in last year s presidential electoral contest Kamala Harris presidential nominee Trump accused Minutes of editing the interview in a deceptive way designed to help Harris win the balloting After initially demanding billion in damages Trump upped the ante to billion while asserting he had suffered mental anguish The occurrence expeditiously became a closely-watched test of whether a corporation would back its journalists and stand up to Trump Editing for brevity s sake is commonplace in TV journalism and CBS argued Trump s alleges had no merit But reports of company executives exploring a foreseen settlement with Trump later piled up particularly after Carr appointed to lead the FCC by Trump launched an study earlier this year By the start of July Paramount agreed to pay Trump million The company disclosed the money would go to Trump s future presidential library and to pay his legal fees but maintained that it was not apologizing or expressing regret for the story The settlement triggered an outcry among critics who pilloried Paramount for backing down from the legal fight to increase the chances of closing the Skydance deal U S Sen Elizabeth Warren D-Mass mentioned that the deal could be bribery in plain sight and called for an inspection and new rules to restrict donations to presidential libraries Concerns about editorial independence at CBS had piled up even in the months before the deal was declared with Paramount overseeing Minutes stories in new methods as well as journalists at the structure expressing frustrations about the changes on an award-winning undertaking that has been a weekly staple for nearly years In April then-executive producer of Minutes Bill Owens resigned noting that it had become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have reliably run it Another domino fell in May when CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon also stepped down citing disagreements with the company on the path forward amid speculation of Paramount nearing a settlement with Trump CBS has since appointed Tanya Simon as the top producer at Minutes elevating a respected insider in a move that could be viewed as a way to calm nerves leading up to the changes that Skydance s Ellison is expected to make Liedtke broadcasted from San Francisco