Skydance’s David Ellison Meets With FCC Chaiman Brendan Carr To Discuss Paramount Merger And Company’s ‘Commitment to Unbiased Journalism’

Skydance Media CEO David Ellison met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and other agency staffers this week to discuss the pending regulatory decision on the company’s merger with Paramount Global, where topics included news coverage.

According to a filing with the FCC, Ellison and his legal counsel, Matthew A. Brill, met Tuesday with the FCC officials, and they “discussed 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 the filing, 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.”

The filing also stated Ellison and Brill discussed with Carr their company’s “commitment to promoting non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity at New Paramount, ensuring the company is fully compliant with law.” One of Carr’s chief concerns has been corporate “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives that he has characterized as “invidious discrimination.” He has suggested that companies that maintain DEI policies would have difficulty securing regulatory approval.

Critics of the proposed merger also have been meeting with FCC officials. That includes Project Rise Partners, an investment group that had sought to make a rival bid for Paramount Global after the end of the 45-day “go-shop” period last summer. Among other things, Project Rise had raised concerns about China’s Tencent’s proposed ownership interest in the Skydance deal.

According to the Skydance filing, Ellison and Brill “refuted erroneous claims regarding Chinese influence on RedBird and New Paramount and reiterated that Tencent will hold only a non-voting, passive interest in New Paramount of less than 5 percent (in the form of publicly traded shares it would be free to purchase on the Nasdaq), according it no governance or informational rights and therefore no ability to influence the operation of New Paramount.”

The FCC is on day 245 of its review of the transaction. The agency sets a 180 day timeline for reviews, but it is not bound by it.

Earlier this month, Paramount Global announced a settlement with Donald Trump of his $20 billion lawsuit against CBS over the way that 60 Minutes edited its interview with Kamala Harris. Paramount said that the settlement was not connected to the FCC merger review.

But Carr has said that a complaint that was filed with the FCC about the 60 Minutes interview was “likely to arise” in the context of the merger review. The group that filed the complaint, the Center for American Rights, has also met with FCC officials, raising issues about alleged news bias, including recent comments made in a commencement address by 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley.

Carr has not given any indication of when the FCC review will be completed. An FCC spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the FCC, has urged that all commissioners weigh in on the merger, not just the FCC’s media bureau.