The Federal Communications Commission yesterday approved Paramount Skydance\u2019s plan to sell large equity stakes to the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.<\/p>\n
Under US law<\/a>, companies with licenses to run broadcast stations need FCC approval to have direct or indirect foreign ownership exceeding 25 percent of the company\u2019s stock. Paramount says its indirect foreign ownership will reach 49.5 percent after it receives investments from the sovereign wealth funds and filed a petition<\/a> asking the FCC to waive the foreign ownership limit.<\/p>\n Paramount, the owner of CBS, holds FCC licenses for the 28 local CBS stations that it owns and operates. Paramount is buying Warner Bros. Discovery in a $111 billion deal that is being partially financed with foreign investment but hasn\u2019t completed the acquisition because US states filed a lawsuit that aims to block the merger. Trump\u2019s Department of Justice approved the merger.<\/p>\n The FCC is letting Paramount sell indirect ownership stakes to \u201csome of the most repressive governments in the world,\u201d FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the commission, said yesterday<\/a>. \u201cAn investment this large in one of America\u2019s biggest media companies doesn\u2019t just buy equity, it secures influence over what gets said and what gets made.\u201d<\/p>\n The Paramount\/Warner deal would combine two of the largest movie studios, merge streaming service Paramount+ with HBO Max, and give Paramount ownership of CNN and other TV channels.<\/p>\n