(Jan 4): Paramount Global and Skydance Media responded to critics of their pending merger, saying in a regulatory filing that they fail to show they will be harmed by the deal, and instead make demands that threaten free speech rights.

The merger of Paramount, owner of CBS and MTV, with independent film producer Skydance Media had drawn criticism at the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by LiveVideo.AI Corp, the Center for American Rights and Fuse Media. The FCC must approve deals involving the sale of broadcast TV stations.

“These filings are procedurally defective, seek relief that raises constitutional concerns, and/or otherwise lack merit,” Skydance, Paramount and its controlling investor, National Amusements Inc, said in the filing. “Neither party identifies any transaction-related harm that could merit denying the applications or imposing conditions.”

Paramount agreed to merge with Skydance in July. Under the terms, Skydance’s founder David Ellison will become the controlling shareholder of Paramount and its chief executive officer.

The companies also said measures proposed by the Center for American Rights may be unconstitutional. The centre, a non-profit that has filed complaints about media bias at CBS and other networks, said in a public filing that the merger should only be approved with commitments that Paramount will avoid foreign influence and promote diversity on its airwaves. The group noted that China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd is an investor in Skydance.

“The centre’s request that the commission force ‘New Paramount to commit to viewpoint diversity, with real benchmarks and expectations’, would be anathema to the First Amendment, because it would put the government in the untenable position of supervising a broadcaster’s editorial policies and choices,” Skydance said in its filing. 

Skydance said Tencent will hold only a minority stake in non-voting Paramount shares after the merger. It said the Ellison family is committed to fair and balanced news gathering and reporting.

In a statement after the filing, the centre said: “We will continue to vigorously advocate for media accountability, including with this case, but we are pleased to see New Paramount’s initial commitment to respecting viewpoint diversity on its airwaves.”

Fuse, a Latino-owned media company, had accused Paramount of favouring its own programming on its Pluto streaming service, which Paramount disputed. 

LiveVideo said Paramount and National Amusements ran a rigged auction of the business. The companies responded that LiveVideo provided “no factual support for its claims”, and asked the commission to approve their merger promptly and without conditions.

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee