NBC News - The Federal Communications Commission said it had approved Skydance Media's $8 billion bid to acquire CBS News parent company Paramount after Skydance made several concessions to the Trump administration. The merger paves the way for a tectonic shift in ownership of one of America's three major networks. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a news release that the move would bring change to CBS News' coverage, claiming "Americans no longer trust legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly."
Among the concessions that Skydance made with regulators was an agreement to not implement any DEI programs. The company also said it would "undertake a comprehensive review" of CBS and install an ombudsman for at least two years who will consider "complaints of bias" at CBS News. Other companies that have billion-dollar transactions pending before the FCC have also backed off DEI programs, including Verizon and T-Mobile.
Earlier this month, Paramount Global settled a lawsuit with President Donald Trump for $16 million over a lawsuit in which he alleged that the way CBS edited a "60 Minutes" interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris was "election and voter interference."
And last week, CBS announced it was canceling "The Late Show," currently hosted by Stephen Colbert, who had recently criticized the settlement. CBS said the cancellation was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night."
The lone Democrat in FCC leadership, Commissioner Anna Gomez, criticized the Trump administration's push to secure promises from companies, including anti-DEI measures. "Even more alarming," Gomez said in an emailed statement, the FCC "is now imposing never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law."
In addition to CBS News, Paramount's assets include Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, The CW, MTV, BET and several film franchises. Hours after Paramount announced Wednesday that the creators of "South Park" agreed to produce 50 new episodes in a deal reportedly valued at $1.5 billion, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker excoriated the company and aggressively skewered Trump in the premiere episode of the Comedy Central show. Full story
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