Why the Paramount-Skydance merger remains in FCC – Business News
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is unimpressed with CBS and it might be expensive for the Tiffany Network, On The Money has discovered.
At difficulty: A latest push by the woke TV community for the Federal Communications Commission and Carr to drop its investigation into alleged violations of the company’s so-called “public interest rules” involving the controversial “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris.
The inquiry is a lingering sore spot for the community. Not solely is it casting doubt on its inside ethics, particularly that it unfairly edited the interview with the gaffe-prone Democratic presidential candidate to make her look good in the heat of the 2024 election. It can also be a key component holding up FCC approval for CBS mother or father Paramount’s long-sought sale to impartial film studio Skydance.
FCC boss Brendan Carr believes CBS has completed nothing to carry the commission’s investigation to an finish, together with a repair for the alleged pervasive bias in its programming. Jack Forbes / NY Post Design
In a latest submitting, CBS stated its release of the full transcript of the interview reveals it did nothing improper in the modifying course of and the case ought to be dismissed. Carr summarily rejected the proposal, saying his investigation will proceed.
Privately, On The Money has discovered, he had harsher phrases for community brass.
Carr believes CBS has completed nothing to carry the commission’s investigation to an finish, together with a repair for the alleged pervasive bias in its programming, in accordance with people with information of the matter.
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“The case isn’t close to being settled right now,” is how one FCC official accustomed to Carr’s considering put it to On The Money. “Now CBS could come in and make a big offer for remedies tomorrow, but that doesn’t seem like it’s on the table.”
An FCC spokesman didn’t return a request for remark. A CBS rep declined to remark.
Without settlement discussions, the FCC’s inquiry might drag on for weeks, probably months additional delaying the Paramount-Skydance deal.
CBS stated its release of the full transcript of the interview with Kamala Harris reveals it did nothing improper in the modifying course of and the case ought to be dismissed. 60 Minutes / CBS
As reported by On The Money, Skydance — which has but to get its hooks into Paramount and might be battling a rival bid for the media conglomerate — is weighing doable remedies to push the approval course of alongside, together with an ombudsman to monitor CBS information content material and make sure it’s free of bias.
Another main headache for Paramount is President Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit towards CBS over the Harris interview.
Why does any of this matter for the merger? The FCC is the main regulator over the broadcast media business that airs programming over public airwaves, versus cable. The company can deny native broadcast licenses to firms and derail mergers when there may be proof that information content material violates its public curiosity guidelines by containing apparent political bias.
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CBS News has come beneath fire from conservatives for years over an allegedly left-wing slant in its programming.
Meanwhile, the “60 Minutes”-Harris interview has been steeped in controversy because it aired final Oct. 7. Conservative teams together with the Center For American Rights, or CAR, quickly found that CBS beforehand had aired a promo of the Harris interview the place her reply to a query about the Middle East appeared markedly much less coherent than what finally ran on the program.
CAR filed a grievance with the FCC that triggered the investigation that’s now suspending the Skydance-Paramount deal.
