The Paramount-Skydance merger has triggered its second 90-day extension after failing to close on Monday.
The $8 billion deal, which was first brokered a year ago, remains under review by the Federal Communications Commission due to a required transfer of broadcast licenses.
Under the terms of the agreement, the merger’s closing deadline is subject to two automatic 90-day extensions. The first extension was triggered on April 7, which delayed to the closing deadline to Monday. After triggering the second extension, the deadline has now been pushed to Oct. 6.
If the deal is not closed by then, Paramount and Skydance would have the option to terminate the deal, which would not be subject to the agreement’s $400 million breakup fee.
The second extension comes after CBS reached a $16 million settlement with Donald Trump in his lawsuit against “60 Minutes.” The president sued the network for $20 billion, claiming an Oct.7 interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris was deceptively edited and caused him “mental anguish.”
The settlement payment covers legal fees and other costs as well as a donation that will be allocated to a “future presidential library.” Paramount also said that “in the future, 60 Minutes will release transcripts of interviews with eligible U.S. presidential candidates after such interviews have aired, subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns.” Notably, the settlement does not include any statement of apology or regret from CBS or “60 Minutes.”
While many observers believed the Trump settlement was the final hurdle to clear the Skydance deal, with lawmakers like Elizabeth Warren warning it could be “bribery in plain sight,” both Paramount and FCC chairman Brendan Carr have previously said that the lawsuit and settlement talks with Trump were unrelated to the agency’s review.
But Carr has warned that “all options remain on the table” in the agency’s ongoing investigation into alleged “news distortion” related to the Harris interview, including potentially revoking CBS’ broadcast license if the network is found to have violated the agency’s public interest standard.
The FCC typically makes decisions on broadcast license transfer applications within an informal 180-day timeframe, but that is not a strict deadline. When asked by reporters last month whether he sees the agency’s merger review being resolved soon, Trump replied: “I hope so. Ellison’s great, he’ll do a great job with it.”
