Olivia Asher is a reporter at the New Herald Tribune covering breaking news for the Digital Trends Desk. Before joining the newsroom in 2022, she covered criminal justice issues at the Orlando Plain Dealer.
July 18 , 2025
Washington, D.C. — As the $8 billion Skydance-Paramount merger hangs in the balance, Skydance Media chief David Ellison met this week with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr to press for final regulatory approval. The high-stakes meeting comes amid unprecedented scrutiny over the merger’s editorial implications and the role of federal oversight in broadcast media ownership.
During the closed-door session, sources report that Ellison sought to reassure FCC leadership that the post-merger editorial environment would adhere to conservative sensibilities, referenced by an explicit pledge that “editorial decision-making would make Fox News proud.” While the details of the conversation have not been made public by the FCC or Skydance, Ellison’s approach appears calibrated to align with Chairman Carr’s long-voiced concerns that mainstream networks “often disregard FCC regulations regarding public interest,” especially about political content and bias. Carr, a Trump appointee with a background in conservative legal advocacy, has stated that approval of major media mergers must be predicated on “news content remaining free of political bias,” signaling an evolving and stricter interpretation of public interest obligations for broadcasters holding local licenses.
In an especially controversial move, Ellison reportedly offered to end each programming segment on Paramount-owned platforms with a 15-second public service announcement featuring Health and Human Services Secretary Kristi Noem, urging viewers to report illegal immigrants. While no official comment has been made on this proposal, it raises legal and ethical questions regarding the use of public airwaves for targeted government messaging, especially given the ongoing debate over the limits of federal influence on editorial independence and the boundaries of so-called “public interest programming.” No such proposal was mentioned in prior ex parte FCC filings reviewed by industry analysts, but Capitol Hill sources say such “actionable suggestions” have formed part of broader discussions over merger conditions and settlements.
The FCC’s review, now more than 238 days underway, has taken on new complexity given recent legal settlements between Paramount and former President Trump. The $16 million agreement to conclude a contentious lawsuit over CBS News coverage was widely seen as necessary to remove barriers to the merger, but it has also provoked bipartisan concerns about potential quid pro quo arrangements and the integrity of the regulatory process.
Trump’s very public endorsement of the Ellison deal was delivered with an expectation that CBS, under new stewardship, would pivot away from the perceived editorial slant that prompted his $20 billion lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. Inside Paramount, the prospect of a merger-driven shift in news standards has already prompted executive departures and staff anxiety about the company’s future editorial direction.
Although Ellison’s promises may appeal to some regulators and White House officials, critics say that pledging to model editorial operations on Fox News and injecting government messaging into programming “should invite robust debate about the future of American media pluralism and First Amendment protections," according to one former FCC commissioner.
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