FCC approves Paramount and Skydance deal

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday approved the $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global by Skydance Media.

Reports of Skydance Media’s interest in acquiring Paramount began to surface in late 2023, with formal talks kicking off by 2024. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the finalized purchase Thursday in a statement on X, noting changes that will be coming for the company.

“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change. That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network,” Carr wrote in a statement. “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.”

Carr went on to highlight how Skydance has committed to “addressing bias & restoring fact-based reporting,” “ending discriminatory” diversity, equity and inclusion implementations and “investing in trusted local news.” The acquisition includes Paramount Global’s subsidiaries such as the CBS broadcast network, Paramount Pictures, and Nickelodeon.

“These changes would represent an important step towards earning back Americans’ trust. Will be watching,” Carr wrote on X.

Reports surfaced this week revealing that Skydance pledged Tuesday that DEI policies would have no place in the merger, as the acquisition awaited approval from the Trump administration. A representative from Skydance sent a letter to Carr vowing to dismantle all DEI programs and practices at Paramount, following a January executive order from the president targeting federal DEI policies.

In January, President Donald Trump signed an order directing all federal agencies to “enforce our long-standing civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.” Soon after, non-federal companies like T-Mobile, Target, Walmart and Boeing also vowed to scale back DEI measures.

The acquisition comes shortly after CBS announced that late-night host Stephen Colbert’s show, which has been on for a decade, will end its final season in May 2026. According to Variety, CBS executives cited the cancellation as “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”

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