FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Thursday he was “pleased” with commitments from Skydance Media to reform CBS, as the agency nears a decision on the $8 billion Paramount merger.
Skydance submitted a letter this week pledging to hire an ombudsman to address complaints of media bias and to present “a diversity of viewpoints” on CBS news programming.
“They are committing to serious changes at CBS,” Carr said. “I think that would be a good thing.”
Carr, speaking at his monthly FCC press conference, did not give an update on the timing of approval of the Paramount-Skydance merger. Skydance has also committed to eliminating various initiatives on diversity, equity and inclusion — though Paramount previously rolled back many of its DEI programs in February.
Carr said both the anti-DEI pledge and Skydance’s promise to hire a CBS ombudsman are “significant commitments” that will be considered as part of the merger approval process.
“I think it’s a good thing,” he said. “They’re hitting on issues that I think we need to see significant change on.”
Meanwhile, Carr has repeatedly weighed in this week on CBS’s cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
“The partisan left’s ritualist wailing and gnashing of teeth over Colbert is quite revealing,” he said on X. “They’re acting like they’re losing a loyal DNC spokesperson that was entitled to an exemption from the laws of economics.”
He also echoed the White House criticisms of ABC’s “The View.” On Wednesday’s episode, co-host Joy Behar slammed Trump for being “jealous of Obama.” The White House fired back, calling Behar an “irrelevant loser” and suggesting that “The View” would be “the next to be pulled off air.”
In a Fox News interview on Thursday, Carr was asked if “The View” is “in the crosshairs of this administration.”
“It’s entirely possible that there’s issues over there,” Carr said. “Once President Trump has exposed these media gatekeepers and smashed this facade, there’s a lot of consequences. I think the consequences of that aren’t quite finished.”
Carr was asked at the FCC press conference to clarify whether he was referring to governmental “consequences” or merely a decline in ratings.
“I do think you see significant lower ratings,” he said, noting that “The Late Show” was reportedly losing upwards of $40 million a year. “I do think there’s a lot of consequences once you sort of expose, as President Trump has, what’s going on with a lot of these institutions.”
Carr did not take the bait when asked to address Wednesday’s “South Park” episode that mocked Trump and Paramount’s decision to settle Trump’s nuisance lawsuit for $16 million. “I’m not a ‘South Park’ watcher,” he said.