Overview
- Seven Democratic senators, in a letter sent Monday, urged the FCC to run a full Section 310(b) foreign-ownership review of the $110–111 billion Paramount bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
- They asked the agency to deny confidentiality, require public filing of all investment agreements, invite public comment, and consult CFIUS, the Justice Department, and intelligence agencies.
- The push follows FCC chair Brendan Carr saying on March 3 that the proposal looked cleaner and that foreign-ownership checks could be an almost pro-forma review.
- SEC filings show about $24 billion in financing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, with Bloomberg reporting Tencent is again in talks to invest after stepping back in December.
- Paramount says the foreign backers will hold non-voting stakes with no board seats and argues that keeps the deal outside CFIUS, while the senators warn even passive money can influence newsrooms at CNN and CBS through access, contracts, and leverage.