Paramount and Skydance Defend $8.4 Billion Merger Against FCC Objections

The companies reject claims of foreign influence, bias, and anticompetitive practices, urging the FCC to approve the deal without conditions.

Paramount Global and Skydance Media filed a response with the FCC, dismissing objections to their planned $8.4 billion merger as meritless and procedurally defective.
Critics, including the Center for American Rights, raised concerns about potential foreign influence due to Tencent's minority investment in Skydance and alleged ideological bias at CBS News.
The companies argued that Tencent's stake is passive and non-voting, presenting no basis for regulatory concern over undue foreign influence.
Additional objections from LiveVideo.AI and Fuse Media included claims of a flawed sales process and anticompetitive treatment of independent programming, which Paramount and Skydance disputed as unfounded.
The merger, announced in July 2024, is expected to close in the first half of 2025, pending regulatory approval, with replies to objections due by January 13.