What comes next for Skydance after the Paramount deal
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Skydance this week is expected to complete its $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global, following a 20-month process that was cinched via political appeasement.
The big question is what comes next.
State of play: Skydance made a series of commitments tied to CBS, a Paramount Global business that is much higher in profile than in revenue.
- Specifically, it pledged that the network's "news and entertainment programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum," and also to hire an ombudsman.
- Skydance also said that it doesn't have DEI programs, and that it won't establish any.
- FCC chair Brendan Carr tweeted: "These changes would represent an important step towards earning back Americans' trust. Will be watching."
Zoom in: Carr may be watching, but he lost most of his leverage after signing off on the merger.
- The FCC can revoke broadcast licenses, but not unilaterally.
- Instead, it would need to embark on a lengthy legal process, which is why there are just a handful of historical examples (one of which involved a radio station contest that led to a woman's death).
- Moreover, the potential violation here might have some fairly basic First Amendment defenses, and even a Trump-appointed judge may blanche at confiscating private property because a sitcom didn't have enough "diversity of viewpoints." Particularly given how squishy some of the pledge language is.
The big picture: One pressure point could be in approving future Skydance transactions, but only if they involve broadcast licenses or spectrum — neither of which are expected.
- Instead, Skydance is more likely to seek assets like film studios, streamers, or even cable networks.
- One caveat, of course, is that such deals could fall under the purview of the FTC or DOJ — both of which might pick up Carr's calls. Particularly when Trump's antitrust regime is in a state of confusion.
The bottom line: The future impact of this saga isn't really on Skydance, whose CEO David Ellison may or may not care about the Trump transaction tax that he and Paramount just paid.
- Instead, it's on other broadcasters that want to do deals and now have a regulatory playbook.
