D.C. Memo: Carr Fires New Missile at Skydance/Paramount Global Deal

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Merger: Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr yesterday sent a clear message to Skydance and Paramount Global: Your $8.4 billion merger will not be rubber stamped. On the X platform, Carr referred to the filing posted Tuesday by the Center for American Rights (CAR) that, among other things, questioned whether CBS News was living up to its public interest obligations to air a diversity of views. “Paramount's sale of CBS broadcast licenses to Skydance remains pending before the FCC,” Carr wrote. “This filing from CAR raises what it describes as significant concerns, including ones that go to CBS's adherence to the public interest standard. The FCC will need to address these concerns.” In the filing, CAR President Daniel Suhr faulted CBS News for “wild imbalance” in its coverage for the Republican Trump-Vance Democratic Harris-Walz tickets – 84% positive for Harris and 79% negative for Trump, and 89% positive for Walz and 89% negative for Vance. CAR relied on data supplied by the conservative Media Research Center from July 21 (when President Biden left the race) through September 27. CAR has also filed a news distortion complaint against CBS News/60 Minutes over the editing of a pre-election interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. President-elect Donald Trump has sued CBS for $10 billion over the same Harris interview and had demanded access to the transcript. “I'm pretty confident that that news distortion complaint over the CBS 60 Minutes transcript is something that's likely to arise in the context of the FCC's review of that transaction," Carr told Fox News host Dana Perino on Nov. 19.