Trump’s New FCC Chair Raises the Latest Hurdle in the Paramount-Skydance Merger | Analysis

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Experts tell TheWrap they expect the $8 billion deal will ultimately pass its regulatory review, but one warned Brendan Carr can โ€œask for any conditions he wantsโ€

FCC Paramount Skydance
FCC chair Brendan Carr, Skydance Media CEO David Ellison and Paramount Global controlling shareholder Shari Ellison (Getty Images/Chris Smith for TheWrap)

Paramount Global and Skydance Media are nearing the finish line of their $8 billion merger. But after months of twists and turns, thereโ€™s yet another hurdle standing in the way of controlling shareholder Shari Redstone passing off her familyโ€™s empire to David Ellison: Donald Trumpโ€™s new Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr.

The Skydance deal, which is subject to approval by the FCC due to a required transfer of broadcast licenses of Paramountโ€™s 28 owned-and-operated local TV stations, is currently on track to close in the first half of 2025. But Carr, a Trump loyalist, has put increased scrutiny on Paramount-owned CBS by reviving a previously dismissed โ€œnews distortionโ€ complaint to the FCC against the network from The Center for American Rights โ€” a self-described โ€œnonpartisan public interest law firmโ€ โ€” over a โ€œ60 Minutesโ€ interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.

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