FCC Approves Major Paramount-Skydance Merger

The Federal Communications Communication (FCC) has finally approved a major merger between Paramount and Skydance, two huge players in the media industry, sparking political backlash from various politicians.

The $8 billion deal will see Paramount Global, the media conglomerate that owns Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, and CBS, merge with Skydance, another media production company responsible for various movies, TV shows, video games, and sports.

The merger was announced around one year ago as Paramount struggled with its relations with Trump and his administration, with Trump himself suing the corporation for editing a CBS "60 Minutes" interview he had with former Vice President Kamala Harris-- Paramount ended up paying the president $16 million to avoid the lawsuit.

Bill Owens, the executive producer of "60 Minutes," and Wendy McMahon, the president of CBS News, resigned several months ago due to their opposition with the idea of settling with Trump. Furthermore, journalists at CBS confirmed that they had noticed unusually intense scrutiny over reports related to Trump or his agenda, but it is crucial to point out that Paramount never stopped any of those reports from going live.

Additionally, soon after the settlement, Stephen Colbert, the host of a popular CBS show, proclaimed on air that it had been a bribe to get the Trump administration to approve the deal. Just three days later, his show, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," was canceled, sparking speculations over a possible political motive behind the cancelation. Nevertheless, those theories were dismissed by the company, with Paramount asserting that it was purely for financial reasons.

Now, after careful inspection by the FCC, Skydance has promised to implement multiple new initiatives following the merger. According to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, Skydance will take action to prevent political bias within the new company, along with preventing any diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from moving forward.

However, the FCC's actions have been scrutinized by other political figures, specifically various Democrats. Paramount and CBS have maintained that it was entirely a financial decision made during times of crisis for the company, but Democrats have claimed that it is all part of Trump's scheme to attack and skew the press. They have also alleged that the agency has misused its power to thrust Trump's agenda forward, further deteriorating press freedom. Nevertheless, the FCC has argued that Americans have already lost trust in the media, and Carr stated that their actions were necessary to bring unbiased, reliable news back into the spotlight.

Other changes will also arrive at Paramount Skydance after the merger, including changes to the workforce. At the top, David Ellison, son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison and current CEO of Skydance, will lead the new company, but the futures of current Paramount executives are still unclear. The longtime owners of Paramount Global, the Redstone family, will leave the board completely, selling their share in the corporation to Skydance. Meanwhile, Skydance has also confirmed that they will be aiming to cut costs, which may also lead to layoffs across the company.

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