Exclusive | The Paramount-Skydance deal is likely to remain in regulatory purgatory

For the people running Skydance Media, a “quick and clean” regulatory approval to buy Paramount Global has been replaced by “long and slow” — and that’s if they’re lucky, On The Money has learned.

Finalization of the long-awaited merger is likely to remain in regulatory purgatory for the foreseeable future, government officials say. Despite continued lobbying — and playing the so-called Trump card by reminding the media world that Larry Ellison, one of the president-elect’s biggest boosters is the father of Skydance boss David Ellison — the new management has yet to deliver a certain “justice”. conditions that will be demanded by the regulatory big wigs of the next administration.

Skydance had hoped to close the deal during the first quarter of this year; Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has signaled that is unlikely to happen, these people added. He won’t seal the $8 billion bond because he believes there is evidence that Paramount’s television affiliate, CBS News, is playing fast and loose with the FCC’s basic fairness rules that all networks (as opposed to cable) must meet to broadcast programs. public airwaves.

“Carr has told them that a quick, clean approval is not on the table and everything else remains on the table, including an eventual approval or a denial,” a source close to the situation told On the Money.

Journalism has broad protections under the First Amendment, of course. But local TV must meet certain fairness requirements to obtain FCC licenses to broadcast over the public airwaves. This means, especially during a political season, giving both sides equal access to newscasts and not openly taking sides on news programs.

Carr is said to be particularly concerned about the once-prestigious CBS news magazine, “60 Minutes.” As On The Money has reported, conservative critics believe the network was trying to tip the scales in the 2024 presidential election by favorably editing an Oct. 7 interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris to make it sound like, let’s say, more coherent than her usual world salad when answering even simple questions of politics.

Her redacted response came after the network aired a promo that showed Harris seemingly stumbling over the same question she appeared to answer more smoothly when the official interview took place.

Carr may seek evidence that 60 Minutes did not favorably redact the interview before greenlighting the Paramount deal. Trump has called for CBS to release the full, unedited transcript, which the network has ignored.

Now they may have no choice. If Carr finds that there was any questionable business, he is considering seeking assurances that the conduct will not happen again before the FCC gives the network approval for its local broadcast licenses, which are being considered with a change in ownership.

CBS has denied that it favorably edited the interview.

On The Money can also report that other items on Carr’s radar include potentially favorable editing of an October 2023 “60 Minutes” interview of our barely sensible president Joe Biden (who often makes Kamala Harris sound like Winston Churchill), when he thought he was still running for the White House.

Another item on Carr’s list and potential obstacle to getting the deal approved: CBS’s support of so-called Diversity Equity and Inclusion, government sources said.

Broadcast networks and Hollywood studios in particular have pushed controversial hiring and promotion measures in recent years. Such hiring practices have been criticized as racially and gender-based quotas and illegal because they give candidates who meet intersectional measures advantages, a clear violation of civil rights laws.

Yes, Skydance and Paramount will be controlled by the younger Ellison, and his management has told media industry executives that the Larry Ellison-Trump connection will approve the deal sooner or later.

But Trump didn’t nominate Carr — currently an FCC commissioner long known in D.C. circles as a firefighter — because he wanted deals involving liberal media outfits to go through unscathed.

Trump himself has criticized “60 Minutes” for helping his opponents during the presidential election cycle.

A 60 Minutes spokeswoman did not return a request for comment on Carr’s editing concerns. A spokeswoman for Skydance had no comment. Carr declined to comment.