Paramount, Skydance and National Amusements’ talks with the FCC continued on Tuesday, with representatives from the three companies meeting with commissioner Olivia Trusty and her staff to tout the “significant public interest benefits” of their pending $8 billion merger.
Per a regulatory filing posted on Wednesday, representatives spoke with Trusty, her chief of staff and senior counsel Krista Senell and legal advisor Jessica Kinsey to express Skydance’s “commitment to unbiased journalism, its embrace of diverse viewpoints and its intent to promote non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity at New Paramount.”
The group also discussed allegations of undue foreign influence, reiterating that China’s Tencent Holdings would hold a non-voting, passive interest in New Paramount of less than 5%.
Additionally, they said conditions seeking to “regulate carriage of third-party programming on New Paramount’s streaming platforms, mandate expansion of collective bargaining arrangements and intervene in commercial arrangements between CBS and its network affiliates” are not transaction-specific and are “more appropriately addressed in separate Commission proceedings.”
The move follows similar meetings with FCC chairman Brendan Carr on July 15 and staff members of the agency’s lone Democrat commissioner Anna Gomez on Friday.
The latest filing follows an earlier pair of letters sent from Skydance on Wednesday, in which they committed to appoint an ombudsman to review “any complaints of bias or other concerns” involving CBS News. The ombudsman would be put in place for at least two years following the merger’s closing.
New Paramount will also work closely with CBS’ affiliated broadcast stations to ensure a “productive partnership,” including by considering technological improvements, investments in local news resources and other measures to bolster local broadcasting.
Additionally, Skydance said it would eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at Paramount and said it was committed to ensuring that the company’s storytelling “reflects the many audiences and communities it serves in a manner that complies with non-discrimination requirements and other applicable laws.”
The FCC has been reviewing the Skydance deal for 250 days due to a required transfer of broadcast licenses. Though it typically makes decisions within an informal 180-day timeframe, that is not a strict deadline. The meetings come as the agency is set to hold its monthly Open Commission meeting on Thursday.
