Overview
- A group of Senate Democrats led by Maria Cantwell on May 20 urged FCC Chair Brendan Carr to conduct a rigorous review of the merger’s foreign investors and requested answers and documents by June 5.
- Paramount’s April FCC filing disclosed the combined Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery would be about 49.5% foreign-owned and asked the commission to pre-clear up to 100% foreign equity in its broadcast licenses, with roughly 38.5% tied to Saudi, Qatari and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds.
- At the May 20 FCC meeting Chair Brendan Carr said the agency has opened a public comment process for the foreign-ownership piece and that he expects the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to play a role, though the Treasury has not publicly confirmed a CFIUS review.
- Paramount says the Ellison family and RedBird would retain 100% of voting shares while Gulf funds would hold non-voting equity, but senators and a Democratic FCC commissioner warned that large indirect stakes could still influence editorial decisions at outlets including CNN, CBS News and Paramount’s local stations.
- The transaction, valued at about $110–111 billion and approved by WBD shareholders, still faces separate antitrust reviews in the U.S. and EU and financing scrutiny that political pressure and regulatory probes could delay or alter.