FCC Clears Paramount's $24 Billion Foreign Investment Despite Democratic Objections

The FCC has authorized Paramount Skydance to proceed with accepting substantial equity investments from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. The decision permits indirect foreign ownership to climb to 49.5 percent, surpassing the standard 25 percent threshold that ordinarily requires regulatory approval for companies holding broadcast licenses.

Paramount, which operates CBS and holds FCC licenses for 28 local CBS stations, is pursuing a $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The foreign investors will contribute $24 billion toward this transaction: Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is committing $10 billion, while the Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi's L'imad Holding Co. will each provide $7 billion. The merger remains blocked by litigation initiated by 12 states led by California, though the Justice Department approved it in June.

The arrangement structures foreign participation through non-voting Class B shares, while the Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners retain complete ownership of voting Class A shares. The FCC approved the petition through a staff-level Media Bureau decision rather than a full commission vote.

Democratic concerns about editorial control

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the commission, objected to the approval. She stated that "An investment this large in one of America's biggest media companies doesn't just buy equity, it secures influence over what gets said and what gets made." Gomez criticized the process, saying she "called for this new and novel issue to go to a full commission vote given what's at stake. Instead, the FCC snuck this ruling out as a staff-level decision, with no public vote and no accountability for a call of this magnitude."

Senate Democrats had previously warned FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in May that "the foreign governments behind this investment systematically suppress press freedom in their own countries and have made a series of investments and gifts to entities controlled by the president and his family, raising serious concerns about their influence over the independent American media and the potential for corruption." Carr, however, signaled support in March, stating "I think this is a good deal, and I think it should get through pretty quickly."

FCC rejects influence arguments

The FCC Media Bureau dismissed worries that non-voting equity could still confer practical influence. The order stated: "We find this argument unconvincing. The Proposed Investment is not a loan, which must be repaid, but a purchase of stock that has no voting rights." The agency emphasized that David Ellison will maintain operational control and that the Ellison family will continue holding a voting majority.

The FCC cited Paramount's pledge to "ensure that there will be no interference with the editorial or decision-making policies of its broadcast stations (or CBS News or any other facets of Paramount news and entertainment programming)." The order noted that the FCC "has long recognized that foreign investment in US companies and networks, including broadcast, fosters technical innovation, supports job creation, and strengthens the US economy."

Paramount must comply with several conditions: monitoring foreign ownership levels, preventing foreign investors from exercising "any influence, direction, or control over or provide any commentary or guidance on Paramount's content decisions, company management, or have any Access to Paramount's non-public US Person Data," and obtaining additional FCC approval before modifying voting or governance rights or exceeding the approved foreign ownership threshold.

Merger litigation and broader concerns

The Paramount-Warner Bros. deal faces a significant legal hurdle. A federal judge determined the merger would substantially diminish competition and likely violate antitrust law, halting the transaction pending further litigation that may reach federal appeals court. Paramount has threatened to exit California over the state's opposition, prompting California Attorney General Rob Bonta to accuse the company of attempting to "blackmail the state into letting an illegal deal through."

Media advocacy organization Free Press raised additional concerns about the deal's financial structure, noting that "Paramount will begin its ownership of WBD with nearly $80 billion in debt, which will require deep cuts to Paramount's pre-merger holdings and existing operations. These cuts will negatively impact the public interest, particularly at Paramount's broadcast units."

The FCC previously approved Paramount's $8 billion acquisition of Skydance last year, requiring the installation of an ombudsman at CBS—a position FCC Chairman Carr characterized as a "bias monitor." That approval came shortly after Paramount reached a $16 million settlement with Trump in a lawsuit alleging CBS had deceptively edited a pre-election interview with Kamala Harris, despite CBS having released an unedited transcript and camera footage refuting Trump's claims.