The Federal Communications Commission is greenlighting Skydance Media’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global.

The decision comes just over three weeks after Paramount paid  $16 million to settle President Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against CBS. Nine days ago, David Ellison, the CEO of Skydance, met with the FCC chair, Brendan Carr, and assured Mr. Carr that he would crack down on liberal bias at CBS News and also on slanted and biased programming across Paramount. 

One week ago, CBS announced that it was cancelling “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” whose eponymous host has been insulting and mocking Mr. Trump every weeknight for the last decade (CBS claimed the cancellation was done “purely” for financial reasons and, indeed, “The Late Show” was losing money and relevance). 

On Thursday, the Trump-appointed chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, announced his agency’s approval of the merger, casting it as a victory for objective news coverage.  Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change,” he said. “That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network.”

“In particular, Skydance has made written commitments to ensure that the new company’s programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum. Skydance will also adopt measures that can root out the bias that has undermined trust in the national news media,” Mr. Carr said. 

He said the changes will “enable CBS to operate in the public interest and focus on fair, unbiased, and fact-based coverage.”

Mr. Carr also said the decision “marks another step forward in the FCC’s efforts to eliminate invidious forms of DEI discrimination,” as he said Skydance does not have diversity initiatives and is vowing to eliminate all such programs at Paramount once it takes over. 

An FCC commissioner appointed by President Biden, Anna Gomez, quickly criticized the approval, writing on X, “After months of cowardly capitulation to this Administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted. Now it’s time for companies, journalists, and citizens alike to stand up and speak out, because unchecked and unquestioned power has no rightful place in America.”

“The Paramount payout and this reckless approval have emboldened those who believe the government can—and should—abuse its power to extract financial and ideological concessions, demand favored treatment, and secure positive media coverage,” she said.

Ms. Gomez said she was “pleased” that “FCC leadership agreed to my call for every Commissioner to vote on this transaction.”

“We cannot shield this Administration’s coordinated campaign to censor speech, control narratives, and silence dissent,” she said.

The decision caps off a months-long process that has roiled the news division at CBS, leading to the defenestration of the president of CBS News and Stations, Wendy McMahon, and the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens.

Skydance and Paramount agreed to their $8 billion merger in  July 2024. However, the deal, which requires the FCC’s approval because of the transfer of a broadcast license, was held up for months after Mr. Trump sued CBS for how “60 Minutes” edited its October 2024 interview with Vice President Harris. 

CBS and Mr. Trump basically agreed on the facts of the lawsuit. CBS News producers edited a question and answer sequence in order to make Ms. Harris sound coherent. Mr. Trump claimed this was “election interference” – the interview aired at a time, just wees before Election Day, when Mr. Harris was under fire for her difficulty expressing herself clearly – while CBS argued it was standard practice to edit interviews for brevity and concision.  

Mr. Trump said CBS News’ conduct caused him “mental anguish” and could have cost him the election. The editing also led the FCC to launch a news distortion investigation.

As Mr. Trump’s litigation played out, the FCC failed to approve the transaction according to the usual timetable. Paramount executives became convinced, according to published reports, that the transaction would not be approved until the lawsuit was settled.  

Powerful Democrats in Congress repeatedly warned Paramount that settling Mr. Trump’s lawsuit could violate anti-bribery laws if it were done to pave the way for the FCC to approve the Skydance deal.

Multiple reports said that members of Paramount’s board fretted about potential investigations, civil lawsuits, and even potential criminal charges related to allegations that the settlement was a bribe. Both the FCC and Paramount have stated that the matters were unrelated. Still, the decision to approve the Skydance deal so soon after the settlement will likely increase the pressure to investigate the deal, whether at the state or federal level, and could provoke civil lawsuits. 

On July 1, Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to Mr. Trump’s future presidential library, but declined to apologize for the editing of the Harris interview. After the terms of the settlement were announced, reports quickly surfaced that executives at Paramount and Skydance expected the FCC to approve the deal in a matter of weeks. 

There was speculation that Skydance would make concessions to make up for Mr. Trump getting a far smaller amount than his team was reportedly seeking, as well as the lack of an apology. 

On July 17, CBS said it was canceling Mr. Colbert’s show for financial reasons. The late–night show, which is set to go off the air in May, was reportedly losing as much as $50 million a year. However, fans of Mr. Colbert, who regularly skewered the president, found the timing suspicious as they noted it came two weeks after the settlement and will, in ten months – possibly shorter – silence one of the president’s most fervent critics. 

In recent days, attorneys for Skydance sent letters to the FCC, memorializing Mr. Ellison’s visit to Washington and expressing the company’s commitment to unbiased journalism and to“presenting a diverse array of viewpoints on television” to “ensure that the company’s array of news and entertainment programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum, consistent with the varying perspectives of the viewing audience.”

One curious piece missing from Mr. Carr’s press release was any reference to a commitment to air free public service announcements and advertisements for conservative causes. Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social earlier this week that he “anticipate[s] receiving $20 Million Dollars more from the new Owners, in Advertising, PSAs, or similar Programming, for a total of over $36 Million Dollars.”

Reports of the PSAs surfaced shortly after Paramount first announced its settlement. Paramount previously denied that it made a deal to air PSAs as part of the settlement. And there was speculation that Mr. Trump had made a side deal with Skydance to air them. His post this week appeared to confirm the speculation.

Skydance has refused to comment on the record about whether this side deal exists. Unnamed sources “close to the deal” were quoted in industry trade publications saying they were “not aware” of any side deal. Mr. Ellison met briefly with Mr. Trump at two different UFC events, in April and June, and it’s not known what they discussed. Mr. Trump told reporters in June that he thought Mr. Ellison would be a good steward of Paramount.

Earlier this week, Senators Warren, Sanders, and Wyden sent a letter to Skydance asking about whether it made a side deal with Mr. Trump. The three powerful, liberal senators said, “These reports raise fresh questions about corruption in the Trump Administration and President Trump’s willingness to accept payments from entities with significant policy interests before agencies he controls.”

It is possible that the FCC conditioned the approval of the Skydance deal on the airing of the PSAs and that Mr. Carr declined to mention it in his statement, which outlined Skydance’s commitments.