Skydance, Paramount Urge FCC to Reject ‘Baseless’ Petition by Conservative Group Seeking Conditions to Address CBS News’ Alleged ‘Ideological Bias and News Manipulation’

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As a seasoned observer of media dynamics and corporate mergers, I find the ongoing saga between Skydance Media, Paramount Global, and various objectors to be a fascinating study in power, politics, and the ever-evolving landscape of broadcasting. The Center for American Rights’ objections, based on allegations of ideological bias and manipulation, foreign influence, and racial discrimination, are certainly attention-grabbing, if not entirely convincing. The companies’ response, emphasizing their commitment to editorial discretion and the First Amendment, highlights the complexities involved in such a merger.

The Center for American Rights’ petition for viewpoint diversity commitments from the new corporation, while well-intentioned, seems to overstep its bounds. After all, enforcing such conditions would be a slippery slope towards government censorship and manipulation of content. It’s a bit like asking a chef to make sure every dish appeals to everyone’s taste – it simply doesn’t work that way!

In a lighter note, I can’t help but wonder if the Center for American Rights has considered partnering with a comedy channel during their probationary period. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a good laugh? Maybe they could bring some much-needed humor to the table and lighten up this complex situation!

Skydance Media and Paramount Global have stated that the objections raised against their proposed merger are baseless, and they request the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to discard these objections as they raise constitutional issues of concern. The companies have officially submitted a formal request for this dismissal.

Specifically, Skydance and Paramount have stated that the Center for American Rights, a conservative legal organization focused on public interest, made unfounded accusations in their petition to the FCC regarding the transfer of CBS station licenses to the newly combined entity. In its filing on December 16th, the Center for American Rights expressed objections to what they perceive as CBS’s bias and manipulation of news, and claimed that CBS may have violated laws concerning racial hiring quotas. Furthermore, this group voiced concerns about potential foreign influence from China over the merged Skydance-Paramount, pointing out Tencent Holdings, a Chinese company, owns a minority stake in Skydance as a basis for their concern.

The Center for American Rights submitted a petition to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), requesting that they make the Skydance-Paramount merger contingent upon certain promises from the newly formed corporation regarding specific issues. Furthermore, the FCC was asked to put the approval on hold for a defined number of years until it’s clear that these conditions have been met and complied with.

In their petition, the group emphasized that the Commission should compel New Paramount’s management to promise a balanced perspective, with tangible targets and standards. They based this demand on data from the Center for American Rights, who cited research by the conservative Media Research Center indicating that between July 21 (after President Biden withdrew from the race) and Sept. 27, CBS Evening News and CBS Weekend News reportedly presented VP Kamala Harris favorably in 84% of their coverage, while Donald Trump’s coverage was predominantly negative at 79%.

In their submission to the FCC made in January (which can be found here), Skydance and Paramount argued that the “viewpoint neutrality” condition proposed by the Center would unlawfully interfere with broadcasters’ editorial freedom, a matter already settled by the First Amendment and previous Supreme Court rulings.

Initially, the Center’s worries about viewpoint diversity and potential bias or manipulation are clearly not related to this specific transaction,” stated Skydance and Paramount. “The Center criticizes a supposed lack of diversity across ABC, CBS, NBC, and the media industry as a whole, and while it does focus on CBS in particular, the Center fails to demonstrate that any harm alleged will result from the Skydance Consortium’s acquisition of Paramount.

The filing stated, “The claims made by the Center about Chinese influence and racial discrimination lack any factual basis and are not valid in court.” Consequently, the Center for American Rights is considered irrelevant to this case, as the companies explained.

ALSO CHECK OUT: After the deal is finalized, David Ellison will have complete authority over the merged Paramount-Skydance, according to recent filings.

Independent of each other, the Center for American Rights lodged a grievance with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over what they perceived as biased news reporting by CBS News’ “60 Minutes”. The allegation was that the show had deceptively edited Vice President Harris’ response during an interview about a critical foreign policy issue. Before the 2024 election, former President Trump initiated a $10 billion legal action against CBS over the same “60 Minutes” interview featuring Vice President Harris. In response, CBS News has stated that Trump’s accusations regarding the “60 Minutes” Harris interview are unfounded, and they consider the lawsuit to be baseless.

Brendan Carr, the FCC commissioner selected by President-elect Trump to serve as the agency’s new chairman, has stated that Trump’s lawsuit against “60 Minutes” may influence the FCC’s decision-making process regarding the proposed merger between Skydance and Paramount.

In October 2024, Skydance and Paramount submitted an application for the Federal Communications Commission to grant approval for the shift of control over CBS’s 28 locally operated TV stations’ licenses to the soon-to-be combined company. This transaction, valued at more than $8 billion, will see Skydance and RedBird Capital Partners acquire Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc., which is Paramount’s majority stakeholder. The merger of Paramount and Skydance is anticipated in the first half of 2025.

In their January filing, Skydance and Paramount asked the FCC to dismiss LiveVideo.AI’s petition aimed at preventing the transfer of CBS station licenses. LiveVideo.AI claimed they had submitted a superior bid on July 5, 2024, to acquire NAI and Paramount, stating that they have been harmed by what they believe was a biased sales process. However, Skydance and Paramount argued that LiveVideo.AI’s criticisms about the sale process are not relevant in this case, and their unspecific accusations of misconduct are baseless and insufficient to warrant blocking the applications.

Furthermore, Paramount Global and Skydance addressed the objection raised by Fuse Media, claiming it had witnessed Paramount Global’s favoritism (self-preferencing behavior) on the Pluto TV platform. This platform is one of the primary and rapidly expanding free streaming services essential for the development of video programming services in the future. Fuse Media argued that the transaction as proposed could exacerbate the competitive strength of Fuse and other independent content providers. They urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to examine whether this deal, in its current form, promotes the level of competition and diverse viewpoints that the public interest standard requires.

Paramount and Skydance argue that the FCC does not have the power to impose the conditions proposed by Fuse Media concerning streaming media services, as these conditions are not relevant to the transfer of control over CBS’s broadcast station licenses. They further contend that these conditions are unnecessary under any circumstances.

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2025-01-03 21:47