The FCC approved Skydance’s $8 billion purchase of Paramount Global in a 2-1 vote, said a release late Thursday. In a statement released with the order, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr praised Skydance for making written commitments “to ensure that the new company’s programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum” and “measures that can root out the bias that has undermined trust in the national news media.” Skydance has committed to not establishing diversity programs, hiring an ombudsman to evaluate bias at the company, and working closely with its network affiliates, said the FCC release. Commissioner Anna Gomez dissented from the order. “After months of cowardly capitulation to this Administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted. Unfortunately, it is the American public who will ultimately pay the price for its actions,” she said in her own statement. “In an unprecedented move, this once-independent FCC used its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom,” Gomez said. “Even more alarming, it is now imposing never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law.” Despite condemning the arrangement, Gomez praised Carr for bringing the matter to a full commission vote. “Granting approval behind closed doors, under the cover of bureaucratic process, would have been an inappropriate way to shield this Administration’s coordinated campaign to censor speech, control narratives, and silence dissent.” According to the order, the news distortion proceeding against CBS stemming from a Center of American Rights (CAR) complaint remains open. “Our action today does not pre-judge or in any way prejudice any actions we may take in that proceeding,” the order said. “We note that the matter has not been set for hearing and CAR has not alleged that CBS or its parent are unfit to hold Commission licenses.” CAR instead asked the FCC to require CBS to release a transcript of its interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris and commit to viewpoint diversity, the order said. “CBS/Skydance has done both.”

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the FCC’s Top Four prohibition and its extension to low power TV stations and multicast streams but upheld the agency’s other broadcast ownership rules in a unanimous opinion Wednesday on the 2018 quadrennial review. Petitioners Zimmer Radio, Nexstar, NAB, Beasley Media and Tri-State Communications challenged the order in October. In weighing whether to retain broadcast ownership rules, “the FCC properly considered all three of its public interest goals—competition, localism, and viewpoint diversity,” said the opinion. “In sum, Petitioners have not shown that the Commission’s decision was not reasoned or reasonable.” However, the agency’s justifications for retaining the Top Four prohibition were “counter to the evidence before the agency,” the opinion said. The court also vacated the FCC’s extension of the top four prohibition to multicast channels and LPTV, and ruled that Congress didn’t intend for the agency to use the quadrennial review process to tighten regulations. The court will wait 90 days before issuing the mandate in the case to give the FCC an opportunity to provide “adequate evidence to support any of its articulated justifications for retaining the rule. If the FCC fails to do so, upon further order the mandate will issue,” the opinion said.

The Senate confirmed Republican Arielle Roth as NTIA administrator Wednesday on a largely party-line 52-42 vote, as expected. Senate Commerce Committee member John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat who joined Republicans in backing Roth, as he was when the panel advanced her in April. The chamber invoked cloture on Roth last week 50-34. President Donald Trump nominated Roth, who has been Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, to the NTIA role in February.

The Senate voted 50-34 Thursday to invoke cloture on NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth, setting the stage for her confirmation next week. The vote divided largely along party lines, with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania the only Democrat to back Roth, as expected. All Senate Commerce Democrats except Fetterman voted against advancing Roth in April amid frustrations about the Trump administration's plan for administering NTIA’s $42.5 billion BEAD program. President Donald Trump nominated Roth in February.

The FCC on Friday approved T-Mobile’s purchase of wireless assets from UScellular, a deal valued at about $4.4 billion, including $2 billion in assumed debt, Chairman Brendan Carr announced. The transaction includes about 30% of UScellular's spectrum and all of its wireless customers and stores. The approval came from the Wireless Bureau with no commissioner vote.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday in Consumers’ Research v. FCC that the USF's contribution scheme doesn’t violate the non-delegation doctrine. The decision overturned an en banc ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the majority opinion, while Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a dissent, which was joined by Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.

The U.S. is offering to host the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference. In a letter Monday to ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick offered to host "here, in the beautiful United States of America." He said with Rwanda withdrawing its bid to host, the U.S. "stands ready and willing to step up to provide a free and open environment to host this critical conference." The Lutnick letter does not specify one host city but says it could be "any number of cities," including Washington. Shanghai has been seen as the most likely host for WRC-27 (see 2506180073).

In a 6-3 ruling Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in a key Telephone Consumer Protection Act case that lower courts aren’t bound by FCC and other agency decisions. The Hobbs Act gives the appeals courts general jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend or determine the validity of some agency orders, including most FCC orders, according to the decision in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson. Major telecom trade groups have urged SCOTUS to reject arguments that a lower court can review an FCC decision, saying industry needs the certainty provided by the Hobbs Act (see 2412260037).

The Senate voted 53-45 Wednesday to confirm Republican Commissioner-designate Olivia Trusty to a full, five-year term that begins July 1, as expected. The chamber already confirmed her Tuesday to finish the term of former Democratic Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, which ends June 30. Once sworn in, Trusty will shift the FCC to a 2-1 Republican majority and restore the commission's quorum.

The FCC Media Bureau issued a public notice late Wednesday seeking comment on eliminating or modifying the national broadcast-ownership cap. The item sought comment about changing the cap, modifying the UHF discount and treating ownership of non-top-four affiliate stations differently under the rules. If the FCC “retains a national audience reach cap, should common ownership of stations that are not affiliated with major national broadcast networks (i.e., ABC, CBS, NBC, or FOX) be excluded from the cap?” the notice asked.