Gomez: Full FCC Should Decide on Skydance/Paramount
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said any approval of Skydance Media’s purchase of Paramount Global should be done at the full commission level. Speaking Thursday with reporters after the agency's July meeting, Gomez said Chairman Brendan Carr “is quite cognizant of my request to do so.” The chairman’s office didn’t comment.
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Carr repeatedly said Thursday he was “pleased” by commitments Skydance proffered this week on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and content (see 2507230029). They'll be part of "the mix" of what the agency takes into account when considering the deal's public interest benefits, Carr said. "They are committing to serious changes at CBS -- I think that would be a good thing," Carr said. Asked about the timing of a decision, Carr said the transaction was still going through the agency's "normal review process."
Gomez lambasted Skydance and Paramount Global. Skydance "will cowardly capitulate to adopt never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial content," she said. "Turns out, it is quite easy to sell out your principles for pure profit," she said, pointing also to Skydance's DEI conditions. "I fear this may only be the beginning," since approval of Skydance/Paramount and Paramount's $16 million settlement of a suit over a 60 Minutes interview (see 2507020053) "would only embolden those who believe the government can and should abuse its power," Gomez said.
Speaking on Fox News Thursday, Carr said issues such as NPR and PBS defunding and CBS' cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert are "consequences" of President Donald Trump in his election campaign running "right at these legacy broadcast media outfits and the New York and Hollywood elites that are behind it." Trump "smashed the facade that these are gatekeepers that can control what Americans think and what Americans can say," Carr said. "And once you do that, you've exposed the business model of a lot of these outfits as being nothing more than a partisan circus."
Asked about a public feud between Trump and Joy Behar, a host of ABC talk show The View, with the White House indicating the show could go off the air, Carr said decisions like Colbert's cancellation "are business decisions" for the networks to make.
Speaking with reporters at Thursday's FCC meeting, Carr said the consequences shows like The View are experiencing include lower ratings. He was asked, but didn't specify, whether consequences could also include government action.