Paramount-Skydance merger approved
As reported by Reuters, the deal will put well-known entertainment properties including the CBS broadcast television network, Paramount Pictures, and the Nickelodeon cable channel under the ownership of tech scion David Ellison.
Paramount this month paid USD16 million in a controversial move to settle a lawsuit Trump filed against the company and CBS News, sparking accusations it effectively had paid for approval of the merger.
The Federal Communications Commission approved the deal in a partisan 2-1 vote that allows the transfer of CBS television stations. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, an appointee of Republican Trump, said the agency had received assurances from the incoming owners that they were committed to unbiased journalism.
Democrat Anna Gomez, the FCC's dissenter, accused Paramount of "cowardly capitulation" to the Trump administration. She also said the FCC was imposing "never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions."
CBS News was one of several news organisations Trump attacked for what he viewed as unfavorable coverage. Paramount paid Trump to end a lawsuit he filed over CBS' editing of a 60 Minutes interview with his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.
Trump, who often accuses media outlets of liberal bias and "fake news," argued that the editing was designed to make Harris look good. First Amendment lawyers said the suit was without merit.
Carr has said the agency's review of the proposed merger was not connected to the lawsuit.
Senators Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico said the merger "reeks of the worst form of corruption," coming on the heels of Paramount's settlement.
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