The Federal Communications Commission has approved Skydance’s $8 billion acquisition of CBS parent company Paramount Global, both of which made significant concessions to President Donald Trump in recent weeks.
The merger is likely to result in a rightward shift at CBS News, one of the country’s three major media networks. In a statement announcing the merger’s approval, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said he anticipates “significant changes” at the network.
“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.”
The approval comes a week after a federal filing in the matter revealed that Skydance, run by CEO David Ellison, promised the Trump administration it was committed to bringing “unbiased journalism” and “diverse viewpoints” that reflect the “varied ideological perspectives of American viewers” to CBS News ― signaling to the FCC that the network would present more Trump-friendly content.
