Skydance Media has made additional commitments to the FCC in an effort to get approval for its $8 billion merger with Paramount Global.
In letters addressed to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, Skydance’s top lawyer said Skydance will install an ombudsman to review “complaints of bias or other concerns” involving CBS as part of ensuring “viewpoint diversity” and that Skydance has confirmed that Paramount has eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The Skydance exec, Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, general counsel and co-president of business operations, also said the company doesn’t have DEI policies and is pledging to not implement any in the future. The letters, both dated July 22, were posted publicly on the FCC website on Wednesday.
In a meeting last week with Carr and other FCC officials, Skydance CEO David Ellison had expressed Skydance’s “commitment to unbiased journalism and its embrace of diverse viewpoints, principles that will ensure CBS’s editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers,” per a company FCC filing.
In one of the July 22 letters, Skydance reiterated the pledge to maintain “viewpoint diversity.”
“To promote transparency and increased accountability, Skydance also will commit, for a period of at least two years, to have in place an ombudsman who reports to the President of New Paramount, who will receive and evaluate any complaints of bias or other concerns involving CBS,” Kyoko McKinnon wrote. “New Paramount’s executive leadership will carefully consider any such complaints in overseeing CBS’s news programming.” The Skydance counsel noted in the letter that in evaluating Comcast’s acquisition of NBCUniversal, “the Commission found such a mechanism effective in preventing editorial bias in the operation of the NBC broadcast network.”
Jeff Shell, former head of NBCUniversal, is set to become president of the new Skydance Paramount Corp. David Ellison is to become the merged company’s CEO and chairman.
“As Skydance has made clear in the record, we ‘recognize the importance of unbiased journalism and are fully committed to presenting a diverse array of viewpoints on television,’” Kyoko McKinnon said in the letter. “We further reaffirm that, after consummation of the proposed transaction, New Paramount’s new management will ensure that the company’s array of news and entertainment programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum, consistent with the varying perspectives of the viewing audience.”
In addition, according to the letter, Skydance “recognizes that, as a broadcast licensee, it will be charged with operating in the public interest, and the company intends to undertake a comprehensive review of CBS and to make any necessary changes to ensure compliance with that standard. In all respects, Skydance will ensure that CBS’s reporting is fair, unbiased, and fact-based. Moreover, Skydance reaffirms its commitment to localism as a core component of the public interest standard. Indeed, the CBS affiliate network’s over 200 local broadcast stations provide service throughout the country and are a trusted voice in local markets big and small.”
Meanwhile, Carr has pressured media and telecom companies to scrap DEI programs, as part of Trump administration’s efforts to get rid of what the FCC chairman has called “invidious forms of discrimination.” Carr has said he would block M&A deals unless companies have committed to abandoning DEI; the FCC earlier this year approved separate deals involving Verizon and T-Mobile after they both provided such assurances.
Regarding DEI, Kyoko McKinnon wrote in that letter, “On behalf of Skydance Media (Skydance), in connection with our pending applications seeking approval for the transfer of control of Paramount Global (Paramount), I write to confirm the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that were in place at Paramount and to confirm our commitments moving forward,”
Kyoko McKinnon’s DEI letter continued, “Skydance, for its part, does not have DEI programs in place today and will not establish such initiatives. The company is committed to ensuring that its storytelling reflects the many audiences and communities it serves in a manner that complies with non-discrimination requirements and other applicable laws.”
“Although Paramount must have a highly talented, dedicated, and creative workforce that understands the perspectives and experiences of its varied audiences, the Administration’s recent Executive Orders, the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), and federal mandates impact the company’s approach to those objectives. As a result of a review of Paramount’s DEI programs, which began after the SFFA decision, the company announced significant changes in February 2025 to its recruiting and hiring practices to align them with current equal employment opportunity requirements,” the letter stated. “We understand that Paramount also eliminated or modified DEI programs across the company to ensure that they are consistent with the company’s commitment to equal opportunity and governing law.”
With respect to hiring practices, Paramount “will not engage in any DEI-related disparate treatment in hiring decisions and no longer will set numerical goals related to the race, ethnicity, sex, or gender of job applicants or employee hires in the United States. Instead, the company will focus on attracting talent from all geographies, backgrounds, and perspectives,” the Skydance counsel’s letter said.
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