Overview

• The FCC approved the merger in a 2-1 vote on July 24, with Democratic commissioner Anna Gomez dissenting over concerns that the conditions could erode press freedom.
• Skydance committed to eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion programs and to appointing a CBS News ombudsman who will handle bias complaints for at least two years.
• Paramount settled President Trump’s lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview by paying $16 million—mostly to his presidential library—and agreed to publish transcripts of future presidential candidate interviews.
• David Ellison, Skydance’s CEO and son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, is set to become chairman and CEO of the restructured Paramount Global once the transaction closes.
• Critics including senators Ed Markey and Ben Ray Luján have denounced the settlement and merger conditions as a potential pay-to-play arrangement and are calling for investigations.