CBS Sports to Get New Owner As Skydance Merger Clears FCC Hurdle

CBS Sports is about to have a new corporate parent as the $8 billion, long-planned merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media gained approval late Thursday from the Federal Communications Commission. What’s unknown, though, is how much collateral damage was incurred to gain that assent. 

Though more than a year in development, the FCC approval arrived just 23 days after Paramount, also the current parent of 60 Minutes, in addition to CBS Sports, agreed to a $16 million legal settlement with U.S. President Donald Trump to resolve a $20 billion legal claim centered on alleged election interference. Though Trump’s suit was widely deemed to be legally specious, Paramount made the deal to avoid “being mired in uncertainty and distraction,” company co-CEO George Cheeks said. 

In delivering the approval of the proposed transaction, FCC chair Brendan Carr said Skydance has agreed not to establish any diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs at the merged company, and committed to practicing what the commission called “unbiased journalism.” The latter will be enforced through an ombudsman placed within the company for a minimum of two years who will report to the company president.

“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change,” Carr said. “That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once-storied CBS broadcast network.”

Such a stance has delivered stinging rebukes of Paramount and Skydance across the political and media landscapes. In the days since the settlement, a series of programs on Paramount-owned networks such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and South Park have all skewered the president, the legal agreement, or both. 

Closing on the merger is expected in the coming weeks.

The FCC decision, however, was not unanimous, and passed by a 2–1 vote. Commissioner Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat, dissented, calling out what she saw as cowardice by Paramount and improper conduct by the FCC and the Trump Administration. 

“Despite this regrettable outcome, this administration is not done with its assault on the First Amendment. In fact, it may only be the beginning,” Gomez wrote in her dissent. “The Paramount payout and this reckless approval have emboldened those who believe the government can—and should—abuse its power to extract financial and ideological concessions.”

NFL Questions

All eyes, meanwhile, will be on the NFL as it has an option to renegotiate or exit its media-rights deal with CBS Sports thanks to a change-of-ownership provision in the deal. League commissioner Roger Goodell said earlier this month he did not expect to exercise that option, but will be reviewing the situation. 

“We’ve had a long relationship with CBS, for decades. We also have a relationship outside of that with Skydance,” Goodell said. “So I don’t anticipate that [an opt-out is] something that we’ll see. We have a two-year period to make that decision. I don’t see that happening, but we have that option.”

Part of the FCC application by Skydance and Paramount argued the deal would provide “an infusion of capital [to] help ensure popular live sports … remain available to over-the-air viewers.”