The FCC Commissioner, Brendan Carr, made significant remarks on December 6 during his appearance on CNBC. The upcoming Chairman of the FCC under the second Trump Administration has indicated that the Commission will take into account a public interest law firm's petition challenging the pending merger of CBS News & Stations parent Paramount Global and Skydance Media. Carr commented on Elon Musk-owned social media platform X, stating that Paramount's sale of CBS broadcast licenses to Skydance is still pending before the Commission. The Center for American Rights has raised concerns about the structure of the proposed transaction in a petition filed earlier this week. These concerns, Carr emphasized on X, pertain to CBS's adherence to the public interest standard, a topic he has widely discussed in various media appearances in the past few weeks. The FCC will need to address these concerns, Carr wrote. Monday (12/16) was the Petition to Deny date in MB Docket 24-275, where the Commission seeks public comment on the proposed transfer of control of Paramount Global. This stake in Paramount Global is set to end up in the hands of Skydance Media, controlled by CEO David Ellison.

Concerns Raised by the Center for American Rights

The Center for American Rights, a non-profit, non-partisan public-interest law firm representing consumers of broadcast media, has deep concerns about the proposed merger of Skydance Media and Paramount Global. It believes that both entities have appeared to breach the Commission's rules. More alarmingly, the firm asserts that serious questions have been raised about Skydance Media's ties to the Chinese Communist Party. In 2018, Skydance formed a strategic partnership with Tencent to access the important Chinese consumer entertainment marketplace. This partnership allowed for co-financing opportunities on Skydance films in China and supported various collaborative efforts. However, in early 2023, the Chinese Communist Party acquired shares in both Tencent and Alibaba, giving the government in Beijing special voting rights over some business decisions. This concerns the Center. While Tencent holds a minority stake in privately held Skydance, its investment in Skydance in October 2022 saw an increase in Yuan. The Center also questions the Paramount side of the proposed merger, believing that CBS News has exhibited improper ideological bias and its CBS television division has engaged in illegal racial quotas for hiring. Based on this assessment, the Center asks the Commission to condition its approval of the merger on specific commitments by the new corporation to address these issues and place the approval on a probationary status for an appropriate period.