How Trump’s election could turn the Skydance-Paramount deal on the rocks

Donald Trump isn’t even in the Oval Office, but the people he’s picked to run his regulatory apparatus are promising major deal-making changes, some good — on balance more mergers approved than those allowed by Biden -i – and some not. so good, On The Money has learned.

One deal expected to gain greater control is Paramount’s $28 billion acquisition of independent studio Skydance, the large but troubled studio and television empire run by Shari Redstone.

That’s because Trump’s people keep talking about finding ways to slow down or even kill one of the biggest media deals of the year. The reason is the alleged leftist bias written into one of Paramount’s affiliates, CBS. The news network was once considered the gold standard of television journalism, but has increasingly been seen as a propaganda arm of the Democratic Party.

This is especially true for Trump supporters and people who will occupy key positions in his administration. They believe “60 Minutes” edited Kamala Harris’ salad-prone speech just before the Nov. 5 election to make it sound more convincing. CBS continues to refuse to release a full transcript of the interview, even after a clip of Harris’ scathing rhetoric was shown in a preview of the segment.

Another example involves the domestic pressure placed on CBS Mornings anchor Tony Dokoupil after his harsh questioning of far-left writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, who wrote a controversial piece that shockingly attacked Israel for his response to the brutal October 7 massacre of innocents. Jews by Hamas terrorists.

Now Trump’s people are looking for answers and maybe more. A few weeks ago, Brendan Carr, Trump’s nominee to head the Federal Communications Commission, expressed his concern that CBS violated parts of the administrative code and its “public interest” clause. Telecom executives tell On The Money that Carr continues to make it known that the FCC, which must approve such mergers, won’t just rubber stamp the transaction.

Carr could get some domestic support to at least stall the timing of the merger, which is slated to close next year, following the appointment of Gail Slater to head the DOJ’s antitrust division. The longtime telecom attorney and legislative assistant to Vice President-elect JD Vance when he was in the Senate is said to be no friend of the big media, and she may also seek to throw a monkey wrench into the transaction, sources said.

The folks at Skydance are apparently taking the threats seriously and may be bringing out their big gun, and they probably already have, On The Money has heard. That would include turning to the president-elect’s friend and supporter Larry Ellison, the multibillionaire founder of Oracle and father of Skydance boss David Ellison.

My sources say the elder Ellison wants the deal to go through the approval process so Skydance can take business back to Paramount, badly hampered by cord-cutting and advertising declines that forced the controlling Redstone family to sell at the beginning. place.

A representative for Skydance had no comment; Carr and Slater could not be reached for comment.