Exclusive | Why the FCC probe into Paramount-Skydance merger could drag on for months: sources

The Federal Communications Commission may not approve the $8 billion merger between independent studio Skydance and Shari Redstone’s Paramount Global until possibly the second half of the year, On The Money has learned.The commission gave an indication of the longer-than-expected timetable last week during a meeting with officials from the Center for American Rights, the conservative group that filed a complaint claiming the decaying media company’s left-leaning CBS News subsidiary violated the agency’s “public interest” rules, according to people at the sit-down.The upshot of the meeting, the sources said, is that the FCC’s inquiry could grind on for months to determine what types of so-called remedies might be necessary to gain the agency’s blessing before it signs off on the deal.“The commission indicated to us that they are in no rush to push this through and will fully investigate our claims,” Daniel Suhr, president of the Center for American Rights (CAR), told On The Money.Last month, the FCC launched its inquiry into alleged deceptive editing of the controversial Kamala Harris “60 Minutes” interview  — a probe that could throttle the Paramount-Skydance deal. Agency officials have since been reviewing filings made by CAR and CBS News, and talking to people on both sides. On The Money has also learned that the network has recently begun hiring outside lawyers in preparation for a long legal slog through the FCC deal-approval bureaucracy, another indication that the FCC edict could come later rather than sooner: While it’s unclear exactly where the FCC is leaning on the case, during last week’s meeting, agency officials discussed with CAR possible remedies that could lead to approval of the deal, people at the meeting say. Those remedies include forcing CBS to move operations out of the notorious progressive hubs of Los Angeles and New York – a tough ask considering these are the nation’s media centers.Another remedy woul...