Trump Says Paramount Settlement Included PSAs, Despite Network's Denials
President Donald Trump said in a post Tuesday that his settlement with Paramount over a 60 Minutes interview has been paid and includes $20 million in ads, public service announcements and programming, on top of the $16 million donation to his presidential library that Paramount previously announced (see 2507020053). The company had denied that the settlement included PSAs or any payout beyond the $16 million, and it appeared to reaffirm that denial Tuesday.
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Also, in separate FCC filings this week, Skydance -- Paramount’s would-be purchaser -- revealed that it met with aides to FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez last week, and the group behind the news distortion complaint against Paramount pushed for merger conditions.
Paramount and CBS “have today paid $16 Million Dollars in settlement, and we also anticipate receiving $20 Million Dollars more from the new Owners, in Advertising, PSAs, or similar Programming, for a total of over $36 Million Dollars,” Trump wrote Tuesday in a post on Truth Social. “CBS and its Corporate Owners knew that they defrauded the American People, and were desperate to settle,” he said. “This is another in a long line of VICTORIES over the Fake News Media, who we are holding to account for their widespread fraud and deceit. The Wall Street Journal, The Failing New York Times, The Washington Post, MSDNC [sic], CNN, and all other Mainstream Media Liars, are ON NOTICE that the days of them being allowed to deceive the American People are OVER.”
Earlier this month, Paramount explicitly denied any additional terms. “Contrary to some news reports or media speculation, Paramount’s settlement with President Trump does not include PSAs or anything related to PSAs,” it said July 2 in an emailed statement. The company was responding in part to a post from activist Laura Loomer, a frequent Trump associate. “Paramount has no knowledge of any promises or commitments made to President Trump other than those set forth in the settlement proposed by the mediator and accepted by the parties,” it said.
Paramount declined to comment on Trump’s post Tuesday, but a spokesperson again referred to and re-sent its previous statements.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr also took aim at CBS and its cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on social media Tuesday. While there's speculation that the show’s cancellation was related to Paramount’s settlement with Trump and the need for merger approval from the FCC, CBS has said it was a financial decision. “The partisan left’s ritualist wailing and gnashing of teeth over Colbert is quite revealing,” Carr wrote on X. “They’re acting like they’re losing a loyal [Democratic National Committee] spokesperson that was entitled to an exemption from the laws of economics.”
The FCC should impose conditions on the Skydance/Paramount deal that would limit the power CBS would have over its affiliates, said Center for American Rights President Daniel Suhr in a letter to Chairman Brendan Carr posted Monday. The FCC should ensure that affiliate fees are “fair” and examine the “conflict of interest” created by Paramount’s ownership of a streaming service and negotiating power over carriage of broadcaster content by virtual MVPDs, Suhr said.
The Skydance transaction also “must protect the prerogatives of local broadcast stations to determine content,” he said. “Consumers hunger for more content that is patriotic, faith-inspired, and family-friendly.” He compared network content to “Hollywood-New York foie-gras.” Suhr added that the deal should protect local stations from pressure to convert more stations into owned and operated properties.
Media brokers have told us the top four networks aren’t widely seen as interested in acquiring stations (see 2506260044). “You’ve rightly decried the New York-Hollywood media industrial complex that increasingly dominates programming. We do not want to see that complex absorb more power,” Suhr said. “This Commission only has jurisdiction over this deal because of its impact on local broadcast stations.” The FCC “should take that reality to heart and put in place conditions that protect localism as the cornerstone of broadcasting.”
Concerns raised by groups such as CAR about the network/affiliate relationship and other issues should be addressed in separate proceedings, representatives of Skydance and Paramount said in a meeting last week with Gomez aides, according to an ex parte filing. Merger conditions that would “regulate carriage of third party programming on New Paramount’s streaming platforms, mandate expansion of collective bargaining arrangements, and intervene in commercial arrangements between CBS and its network affiliates” aren't transaction-specific and shouldn’t be addressed in the merger docket, the filing said. Skydance’s purchase of Paramount “won’t reduce competition.”