Paramount, Skydance and National Amusements’ push for FCC approval of their pending $8 billion merger deal continues, with representatives from the three companies meeting with the agency’s lone Democrat commissioner Anna Gomez’s staff.
Per a new regulatory filing posted on Tuesday, the representatives touted the transaction’s “significant public interest benefits” in a meeting with Gomez’s chief of staff and legal advisor Deena Shetler and policy advisors Jonathan Uriarte and Harsha Mudaliar on Friday. They also addressed concerns raised by third parties who filed petitions in the proceeding.
Among the petitioners is the Teamsters union, which proposed a condition that would set a floor on the number of fulltime employees at CBS owned-and-operated stations, which would be in effect for eight years from the date of the merger’s approval.
Fuse Media has also called for a “fixed percentage of programming on New Paramount’s streaming platforms for independent content providers, offered under fair, non-discriminatory prices, terms and conditions,” while CBS Television Network’s Affiliates Association asked that the deal’s approval address issues related to “CBS control over affiliate finances and “virtual MVPD”
negotiations, exclusivity of programming, and affiliation renewal practices.”
Additionally, the Center for American Rights proposed a condition to require “increased network carriage of locally produced content from affiliated and owned-and-operated stations, along with the recruitment of personnel from a wide range of ideological viewpoints.” It has also asked that the merger be conditioned upon a commitment to avoid foreign influence, citing a minority stake in Skydance from China’s Tencent Holdings.
Paramount, Skydance and NAI said the deal would preserve and enhance the “legacy and broad reach” of both the national CBS television network and the company’s 28 owned-and-operated local television stations. The group argued that the deal would not reduce competition, citing no attributable interest in broadcast stations from Skydance nor RedBird Capital Partners.
It also said parties 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” relate to issues that are not transaction-specific and would be “more appropriately addressed in separate Commission proceedings.”
The latest talks come after David Ellison met with Brendan Carr on July 15, where the former expressed New Paramount’s commitment to unbiased journalism and said it would ensure CBS’ editorial decision-making reflects the “varied ideological perspectives of American viewers.”
Ellison also committed to promoting “non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity” at New Paramount and said its planned governance structure would “not be subject to any Chinese or other foreign influence,” noting Tencent’s stake is a non-voting, passive interest of less than 5%.
Gomez has notably called for the Skydance merger to be held to a vote by the full commission, rather than approval through the delegated power of the FCC’s Media Bureau.
She recently blasted Paramount’s settlement with Trump, calling it a “desperate move” to appease the administration and secure regulatory approval, adding that it sets a “dangerous precedent for the First Amendment.”
She also argued that approving the Skydance transaction behind closed doors and “under the cover of bureaucratic process” would be a “shameful outcome that denies the American people the transparency and accountability they deserve, especially when press freedom is at stake.”
The Paramount-Skydance merger recently triggered its second automatic 90-day extension, which has pushed the final closing deadline 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.
