After an intense, scandal-plagued acquisition, here's what David Ellison gets in Skydance's acquisition of Paramount Global.

Federal regulators on Thursday approved Paramount’s $8 billion merger with Skydance, clearing the way to close a deal that combined Hollywood glitz with political intrigue.

South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone brought their show back with a vengeance on Wednesday, in an episode that took swings at both the parent company of the network that airs their popular animated series and President Donald Trump.

Paramount’s cable business has cratered. The news division is in turmoil. A.I. is coming for movies. And those are just the obvious challenges facing David Ellison as he takes control.

With this week’s FCC approval, the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media is expected to be completed in the coming weeks at a value of $8 billion. The question for the new company is whether the psychic cost is much higher.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr was asked to respond to criticisms of the Trump administration's intervention in the free press.

The Oracle chairman will not have any "veto rights, or any special or outsized voting rights," per an amendment filed with the FCC

Upon the deal’s closing, Skydance and its financial partners are set inject $1.5 billion in cash into Paramount. However, that’s intended to go toward reducing Paramount’s long-term debt ($14.16 billion as of Q1 of 2025) to help stabilize its balance sheet.