FCC Approves $8.4B Paramount Sale to Skydance After Trump Suit Settled, DEI Initiatives Scrapped

The Federal Communications Commission has approved the $8.4 billion sale of CBS parent Paramount to Skydance Media, clearing the way for the sale of CBS, Paramount Pictures, and Nickelodeon. The approval came after Paramount settled a lawsuit filed by President Trump and eliminated its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Skydance has assured the FCC of its commitment to unbiased journalism and will appoint an ombudsman to evaluate complaints of editorial bias.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved the $8.4 billion sale of CBS parent Paramount to Skydance Media, clearing the way for the sale of CBS, Paramount Pictures, and Nickelodeon. The approval came after Paramount settled a lawsuit filed by President Trump and eliminated its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Skydance has assured the FCC of its commitment to unbiased journalism and will appoint an ombudsman to evaluate complaints of editorial bias.

The merger, which has been in regulatory limbo for months, was approved by the FCC on Thursday, July 24, 2025. The vote was 2-1, with Democratic-appointed commissioner Anna M. Gomez voting against the transaction [2]. FCC chairman Brendan Carr welcomed Skydance's commitments to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network, stating that these changes would enable CBS to operate in the public interest and focus on fair, unbiased, and fact-based coverage [2].

The merger was announced in July 2024 after a rocky courtship, only to face uncomfortable headwinds and awkward headlines as it contended with the new administration in Washington, D.C. Today's FCC greenlight was the last major hurdle, after the companies had agreed to settle a Donald Trump lawsuit against CBS News and other concessions that left a sour taste in order to secure regulatory approval [3].

The deal will see the Ellison family, with Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital, acquire Redstone’s controlling interest in Paramount, a media giant assembled over decades by her father, the late Sumner Redstone. Redstone’s interest in Paramount is held through her family holding company National Amusements, which Skydance will acquire for $2.4 billion. It’s a complex operation with a much smaller private company going after a much bigger, publicly traded entity [3].

The merger was announced in July 2024 after a rocky courtship, only to face uncomfortable headwinds and awkward headlines as it contended with the new administration in Washington, D.C. Today's FCC greenlight was the last major hurdle, after the companies had agreed to settle a Donald Trump lawsuit against CBS News and other concessions that left a sour taste in order to secure regulatory approval [3].

The deal calls for Paramount to acquire Skydance in an all-stock merger that values the company at $4.75 billion. At the close, the Skydance investor group will own 100% of New Paramount Class A Shares and 69% of outstanding Class B shares — or about 70% of the pro forma shares outstanding. The investor group will inject $1.5 billion of fresh cash into Paramount’s balance sheet [3].

References:
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/24/media/fcc-skydance-paramount-merger-approved
[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/07/24/fcc-approves-8-billion-paramount-skydance-merger-after-lengthy-review/
[3] https://deadline.com/2025/07/skydance-paramount-global-merger-fcc-approval-1236467949/