Overview

• The Federal Communications Commission backed the deal with Chair Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty voting in favor and Commissioner Anna M. Gomez dissenting
• Skydance and Paramount must appoint a two-year ombudsman to handle bias complaints at CBS and conduct a comprehensive post-merger network review
• The companies agreed to eliminate existing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to satisfy the FCC’s conditions
• Gomez argued that mandating newsroom controls and editorial oversight amounts to a direct violation of the First Amendment
• The merger follows Paramount’s $16 million settlement of President Trump’s lawsuit over a 2024 CBS interview, a move Gomez called a brokered “payout” to secure FCC approval