Paramount Global for sale latest - Variety: Skydance CEO David Ellison Pledged to FCC He Would ‘Ensure’ CBS News Coverage Reflects ‘Varied Ideological Perspectives’

Story from Variety:

More than a year after Skydance Media and its partners clinched a deal with Shari Redstone and Paramount Global to merge the companies, the FCC has yet to act on an application to approve the transfer of CBS licenses to the new ownership.

Earlier this week, Skydance chief David Ellison met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and others at the commission to lobby for the deal’s approval — and, notably, Ellison promised that CBS’s “editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers.”

That’s significant because Carr, appointed by Trump, had reopened an agency probe into a “news distortion” complaint against CBS over the allegedly deceptive editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris segment — the same interview that Trump sued Paramount and CBS over, and which Paramount earlier two weeks ago announced it agreed to settle by paying Trump $16 million. In a Feb. 7 Fox News interview with Martha MacCallum, Carr cited Trump’s lawsuit against CBS and said, the president “has been right on these media bias issues.” Carr said about the president, “He came out early and said, ‘This thing [“60 Minutes” interview] looks like it has been pretty chopped up.’” The application of the FCC’s “news distortion” policy in this way was highly unusual, according to former agency officials.

On Tuesday, July 15, Ellison and his lawyer, Matthew A. Brill of Latham & Watkins, met with Carr, along with Carr’s chief of staff Greg Watson and Ben Arden, special counsel in the office of the bureau chief of the FCC’s Media Bureau. According to a letter from Brill posted Friday in the FCC’s docket for the matter, Ellison and Brill “emphasized the public interest benefits” of the Skydance-Paramount transaction and “We also urged the Media Bureau to promptly grant” approval of the transfer of the CBS licenses to “New Paramount.”

Among the topics Ellison and Brill discussed at the FCC meeting: Skydance’s “commitment to unbiased journalism and its embrace of diverse viewpoints, principles that will ensure CBS’s editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers.” (According to CBS, Skydance played no part in the decision to cancel “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” which was announced publicly Thursday.)

Carr, meanwhile, has championed the Trump administration’s goal of eradicating diversity, equity and inclusion programs, calling DEI policies “invidious forms of discrimination.” To that end, Ellison and his lawyer “noted Skydance’s commitment to promoting non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity at New Paramount, ensuring the company is fully compliant with law.”

With respect to the Skydance-Paramount transaction’s “significant public interest benefits,” Ellison and Brill “explained the Ellison family and RedBird represent fresh leadership with the vision and experience needed to drive New Paramount’s long-term growth in the face of the challenges presented by today’s media landscape, all while preserving and enhancing the legacy and broad reach of both the national CBS television network and the company’s 28 owned-and-operated local television stations,” per the filing.

If and when the Paramount-Skydance deal closes to create “Paramount Skydance Corp.,” Redstone, who is Paramount controlling shareholder, is set to exit the merged company’s board. Ellison would assume the role as CEO and chairman of the combined Paramount-Skydance. The company would be controlled by the Ellison family and remain publicly traded.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting with the FCC, Ellison and Brill again addressed allegations “regarding the prospect of undue foreign influence over New Paramount.”

Third-party commenters in the FCC’s Skydance-Paramount proceeding have raised concerns about the potential for Chinese influence on the merged company, citing the minority interest in Skydance held by Chinese company Tencent Holdings. In a response, Skydance said in a March 10 filing with the FCC, “Any insinuation that a great and deeply patriotic American family, the Ellisons, will be swayed by Communist influences is offensive.”

In the latest Skydance filing, it called the claims of potential Chinese influence over New Paramount “erroneous.” At the July 15 meeting, Ellison and Brill “reiterated that Tencent will hold only a non-voting, passive interest in New Paramount” of less than 5%, in the form of publicly traded shares it would be free to purchase on the Nasdaq. That gives Tencent “no governance or informational rights and therefore no ability to influence the operation of New Paramount,” according to the filing.

“[W]e made clear that Mr. Ellison will lead New Paramount with a talented team of executives focused on American storytelling, and that RedBird’s investment in New Paramount will not involve any participation by any Chinese entity or individual,” according to the Skydance filing. “The planned governance structure will ensure the Ellison family’s management of New Paramount is fully consistent with the Commission’s rules and will not be subject to any Chinese (or other foreign) influence.”