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.

Skydance has no diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in place today and won't establish any, General Counsel Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon pledged to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. In a pair of letters dated Tuesday and posted Wednesday (docket 24-275), McKinnon said Paramount Global under Skydance also would do "a comprehensive review" of CBS and "make any necessary changes" to comply with its public interest obligations. McKinnon said new Paramount management would "ensure the company's array of news and entertainment programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum." She said Skydance remained committed to localism. New Paramount committed to employing for at least two years an ombudsman who would report to the president of New Paramount and would receive and evaluate complaints of bias at CBS, according to the letters. McKinnon said New Paramount would no longer set numerical goals related to job applicants' or employees' gender, race or ethnicity. She said it would not have any leadership or development programs limited by race, gender or other demographics, nor would it consider DEI objectives in compensation plans. McKinnon said New Paramount would no longer set minimum spend requirements for diverse suppliers. Carr has repeatedly said the agency won't approve acquisitions involving companies practicing "invidious forms of DEI discrimination" (see 2503210049).

Skydance Media is committed to unbiased journalism and diverse viewpoints, which "will ensure CBS’s editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers," CEO David Ellison promised FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, according to docket 24-275 filed Friday. Recapping their meeting, Skydance said it's also committed "to promoting non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity at New Paramount, ensuring the company is fully compliant with law." That seemingly refers to Carr's pledge that the agency will block mergers based on companies' diversity, equity and inclusion practices (see 2503210049).

DOJ's statement of interest in the Children's Health Defense lawsuit against news outlets (see 2507110039) clearly supports the plaintiffs even while claiming neutrality, two International Center for Law & Economics scholars wrote Wednesday. The complaint alleges collusion by major news outlets and social media platforms, and "if there is a route for a successful antitrust case involving content moderation and sources of the news, this might well be it," Ben Sperry and Daniel Gilman wrote. However, the statement of interest "avoids or even obscures" major issues, such as how the plaintiffs could establish antitrust standing to bring the complaint and how antitrust remedies might be subject to First Amendment limitations, they said. DOJ didn't mention that the U.S. Supreme Court's 1945 Associated Press decision indicates antitrust remedies can't compel social media platforms to publish material they don't want to publish, Sperry and Gilman said.

Streaming further solidified its lead in June over broadcast and cable with its dominant share of total TV use, Nielsen said Tuesday. May saw streaming reach an inflection point, with its share exceeding cable and broadcast for the first time (see 2506170006). Nielsen on Tuesday said streaming's share of TV use in June was 46%, vs. 41.9% for cable and broadcast combined. It chalked up streaming's increased dominance in June to a particularly strong month for Netflix and a seasonal influx in viewing from school-aged audiences.

The DOJ Antitrust Division told a federal court Friday to reject news outlets' arguments that antitrust laws play no part in protecting viewpoint competition in news markets, citing the consumer welfare and personal freedom benefits of such competition. The nonprofit Children's Health Defense alleged in its suit that defendant news outlets' collaboration with tech giants, while ostensibly about combating online misinformation, actually involved censoring and excluding competing online news publishers from such platforms as Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, which violates antitrust law. The defendants are Washington Post Co., Associated Press, Reuters and BBC. Their claim that the rule of law exempts viewpoint collusion from antitrust laws "would free major news organizations and dominant digital platforms to block competitive threats that offer alternative, competing viewpoints," DOJ told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in a statement of interest Friday (docket 1:23-cv-02735). "Controlling precedent shows that the Sherman Act protects all forms of competition, including competition in information quality." The DOJ said it took no position on the application of the law to the facts alleged in the complaint.

Amazon shuttering its Freevee streaming service is not a surprise, given that it has become irrelevant, with free, ad-supported video now standard on Prime Video, nScreenMedia's Colin Dixon wrote Tuesday. Part of Freevee's challenge is that while free, ad-supported TV competitors like Tubi, Pluto TV and the Roku Channel have sufficient usage to register in Nielsen's Gauge, Freevee doesn't, Dixon said. In addition, most Freevee watching was clearly within Prime Video and on Fire TV devices, he said, noting that Amazon would have kept the service if it had been used a lot on competitor devices.

Paramount Global shareholders shot down a shareholder proposal recommending that the company compile a report on the potential risks of omitting "ideology" and "viewpoint" from its equal employment opportunity policy, Paramount said in an SEC filing Tuesday. The National Center for Public Policy Research submitted the proposal at the company's annual meeting last week.

Trump Media and Technology Group's Truth+ streaming service is now available globally, it said Monday. Truth+ offers streaming channels and video on demand, as well as carrying the Newsmax cable news network, Trump Media said. The company -- which is majority owned by President Donald Trump -- also operates the social media platform Truth Social.

Sept. 30 is the deadline for MVPDs with six or more full-time workers to file Form 396-C equal employment opportunity program annual reports, the FCC Enforcement Bureau said Monday.