By David Shepardson
(Reuters) -The chair of the Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday he is pleased with commitments that Skydance has made to make serious changes at CBS under a proposed merger with Paramount, but said the agency has not made a decision on the tie-up.
CBS parent Paramount needs approval from the FCC for an $8.4-billion merger with Skydance Media. FCC Chair Brendan Carr said after a commission meeting the agency continues to review the deal and praised commitments to end diversity programs.
Skydance has agreed to have an ombudsman in place for at least two years to evaluate complaints about bias in CBS News’ programming if the deal is approved.
“I was very pleased to see Skydance put in a filing that says if this deal goes through they are committing to serious changes at CBS. I think that would be a good thing,” Carr said. “They have committed to addressing bias issues. They’ve committed to embracing fact-based journalism.”
Paramount declined to comment.
Carr cited polls that Americans’ trust in national programs has fallen to historic lows.
This month, Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by U.S. President Donald Trump, claiming the CBS News program “60 Minutes” deceptively edited an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that the network broadcast in October. Paramount did not admit to any wrongdoing.
The FCC has required other companies like T-Mobile and Verizon to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs before approving deals. In January, Trump issued sweeping executive orders to dismantle U.S. government DEI programs, and pressured the private sector to join the initiative.
The FCC did not make a decision by the 180-day informal deadline in mid-May and Carr previously denied Trump’s lawsuit was a factor.
Trump and CBS formally agreed on Tuesday to the dismissal of his lawsuit, according to a court filing.
Skydance and its investors plan to acquire National Amusements, which holds the family’s controlling stake in Paramount. Skydance will subsequently be merged into Paramount, with its CEO David Ellison becoming Paramount’s next chief executive.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul, Chris Reese and Diane Craft)
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