After the FCC approved the Paramount-Skydance merger, CEO Mr. Ellison turned his attention to acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery.
Initially, Warner rejected Paramount’s offer. However, on December 5, just two days before the Kennedy Center gala, Warner accepted a bid from Netflix for its studio and streaming assets. In response, Mr. Ellison reportedly engaged in multiple discussions with government officials and held an extended meeting with Mr. Trump.
On the night of the celebration, President Trump commented to reporters that the Netflix deal “could be problematic,” indicating he would take an active role in regulatory approvals. Inside the Kennedy Center, the Carr family was seen with Ellison in a private skybox. Gomez later stated to ProPublica that he declined Paramount’s invitation due to “serious concerns about reporting independence related to the merger with the FCC.”
Shortly after the event, Paramount launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Approximately three months later, Kerr officially approved Paramount, promising a faster approval process than CNBC’s Netflix.
If some commissioners abstain from voting due to ethical concerns, the situation may become complicated. Under Federal conflict of interest rules, a designee could potentially allow a commissioner to vote after evaluating various factors, such as the difficulty of reassignment and the nature of the commissioner’s relationship with Paramount.
Kerr might circumvent a full committee vote, as he did with his recent approval of Nexstar Media Group’s acquisition of Tegna, delegating authority to FCC staff for the decision.
Nonetheless, any resolution regarding the Paramount deal, whether by the committee or staff, is likely to face challenges.
Richard Painter, a former White House ethics attorney under George W. Bush, commented, “A judge could easily deem the FCC’s merger decision invalid due to perceived corruption in the process.”
This story was originally published by ProPublica.
Source: arstechnica.com