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The $8.4 billion merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media won approval from U.S. regulators on Thursday, clearing the way for a sale that evolved into a clash over press freedom in the era of President Donald Trump. The deal will put well-known entertainment properties including the CBS broadcast television network, Paramount Pictures, and the Nickelodeon cable channel under the ownership of tech scion David Ellison. Paramount this month paid $16 million in a controversial move to settle a lawsuit Trump filed against the company and CBS News, sparking accusations it effectively had paid for approval of the merger. The Federal Communications Commission approved the deal in a partisan 2-1 vote that allows the transfer of CBS television stations. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, an appointee of Republican Trump, said the agency had received assurances from the incoming owners that they were committed to unbiased journalism. Democrat Anna Gomez, the FCC’s dissenter, accused Paramount of “cowardly capitulation” to the Trump administration. She also said the FCC was imposing “never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions.” CBS News was one of several news organizations Trump attacked for what he viewed as unfavorable coverage. Paramount paid Trump to end a lawsuit he filed over CBS’ editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris. Trump, who often accuses media outlets of liberal bias and “fake news,” argued that the editing was designed to make Harris look good. First Amendment lawyers said the suit was without merit. Carr has said the agency’s review of the proposed merger was not connected to the lawsuit. Senators Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico said the merger “reeks of the worst form of corruption,” coming on the heels of Paramount’s settlement. The commission received pledges from Skydance that it would appoint an ombudsman to evaluate complaints of editorial bias or other concerns about CBS. Skydance also told the FCC it would not establish any diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which Trump believes are discriminatory. “These commitments, if implemented, would enable CBS to operate in the public interest,” Carr said, who also hailed “another step forward in the FCC’s efforts to eliminate invidious forms of DEI discrimination.” “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert had called Paramount’s settlement “a big fat bribe.” His show was canceled days later in what Paramount called a financial decision unrelated to politics. It marks the end of an era for the family of the late Sumner Redstone, who transformed the family’s chain of drive-in movie theaters into a media empire that once spanned broadcast and cable television, film, radio and publishing. His daughter Shari Redstone became chair of Paramount in 2019. At the time, she hoped to better position the company to compete with the world’s entertainment giants. Paramount has since shed billions of dollars in market valuation as it struggled to navigate an entertainment business upended by the streaming video revolution. The FCC approved the transaction after a review of more than 250 days, longer than the commission’s target of completing such reviews within 180 days. Skydance CEO David Ellison, son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, is poised to become chair and chief executive of the new Paramount. Jeff Shell, former chief executive of Comcast’s NBCUniversal, will be its new president. Chris McCarthy, one of Paramount’s current trio of CEOs has decided to depart the company once the merger is completed, a source with knowledge of the matter said. Paramount’s stock rose about 1.4% in after-hours trading to $13.45. Dawn Chmielewski, David Shepardson and Lisa Richwine, Retuers
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E-Commerce
The female executive who was caught on camera embracing the CEO of her company at a Coldplay concert in a moment that went viral has resigned, according to news reports.Multiple news outlets reported that Kristin Cabot, the executive in charge of human resources at tech company Astronomer, has resigned.Her departure follows the resignation of CEO Andy Byron, who quit after the company said he was being put on leave pending an investigation.The episode resulted in endless memes, parody videos and screenshots of the pair’s shocked faces filling social media feeds.Cabot and Byron were caught by surprise when singer Chris Martin asked the cameras to scan the crowd for his “Jumbotron Song” during the concert last week at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.They were shown cuddling and smiling, but when they saw themselves on the big screen, Cabot’s jaw dropped, her hands flew to her face and she spun away from the camera while Byron ducked out of the frame.“Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” Martin joked in video that spread quickly around the internet.When the video first spread online it wasn’t immediately clear who they were, but online sleuths rapidly figured out their identities. The company has previously confirmed the identities of the couple in a statement to the AP.Both of their profiles have been now removed from Astronomer’s website and a November press release announcing her hiring has also been deleted.Astronomer was a previously obscure tech company based in New York. It provides big companies with a platform that helps them organize their data.Online streams of Coldplay’s songs jumped 20% in the days after the video went viral, according to Luminate, an industry data and analytics company. Associated Press
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E-Commerce
President Donald Trump locked horns with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during a rare presidential visit to the U.S. central bank on Thursday, criticizing the cost of renovating two historical buildings at its headquarters and pressing the case for lower interest rates. Trump, who called Powell a “numbskull” earlier this week for failing to heed the White House’s demand for a large reduction in borrowing costs, wrapped up his visit to the Fed’s $2.5 billion building project in Washington by saying he did not intend to fire Powell, as he has frequently suggested he would. “To do so is a big move and I just don’t think it’s necessary,” Trump told reporters after the visit. In a post on his Truth Social media site, Trump later said of the renovation, “it is what it is and, hopefully, it will be finished ASAP. The cost overruns are substantial but, on the positive side, our country is doing very well and can afford just about anything.” The visibly tense interaction at the Fed’s massive construction site marked an escalation of White House pressure on the central bank and Trump’s efforts to get Powell to “do the right thing” on rates. It happened less than a week before the central bank’s 19 policymakers are due to gather for a two-day rate-setting meeting, where they are widely expected to leave their benchmark interest rate in the 4.25% to 4.50% range. The president has repeatedly demanded Powell slash rates by 3 percentage points or more. “I’d love him to lower interest rates,” Trump said as he wrapped up the tour, as Powell stood by, his face expressionless. Powell typically spends the Thursday afternoon before a rate-setting meeting doing back-to-back calls with Fed bank presidents as part of his preparations for the session. The encounter between the two men became heated as Trump told reporters the project was now estimated to cost $3.1 billion. “I am not aware of that,” Powell said, shaking his head. Trump handed him a piece of paper, which Powell examined. “You just added in a third building,” the Fed chief said, noting that the Martin Building had been completed five years ago. White House budget director Russell Vought and Trump’s deputy chief of staff, James Blair, who have spearheaded criticism of the renovation as overly costly and ostentatious, later told reporters they still have questions about the project. The two men, who joined Trump during the visit, have suggested poor oversight and potential fraud in connection with it. Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, a Republican who sent Powell a letter on Wednesday demanding answers to his own questions about the renovation, also took part in the visit. Elevated by Trump to the top Fed job in 2018 and then reappointed by former President Joe Biden four years later, Powell last met with the current president in March when Trump summoned him to the White House to press him to lower rates. The visit on Thursday took place as Trump battles to deflect attention from a political crisis over his administration’s refusal to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, reversing a campaign promise. Epstein died in 2019. The Fed, in letters to Vought and lawmakers backed up by documents posted on its website, said the project the first full rehab of the two buildings since they were built nearly a century ago ran into unexpected challenges including toxic materials abatement and higher-than-estimated costs for materials and labor. Speaking outside of the construction site, Trump said there was “no tension” at his meeting with Powell and that they had a productive conversation about rates. FED INDEPENDENCE Ahead of Trump’s visit, Fed staff escorted a small group of reporters around the two construction sites. They wove around cement mixers and construction machines, and spoke over the sound of drills, banging, and saws. Fed staff pointed out security features, including blast-resistant windows, that they said were a significant driver of costs in addition to tariffs and escalations in material and labor costs. The project started in mid-2022 and is on track to be completed by 2027, with the move-in planned for March of 2028. A visit to the roof of the Eccles Building, a point of particular scrutiny by critics like Scott, who has complained about “rooftop garden terraces,” revealed an impressive view of the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall, according to the pool report. Staff explained that rooftop seating, although inexpensive, had been removed because of the appearance of it being an amenity and was one of only two deviations from the original plan. The other was the scrapping of a couple of planned fountains. Market reaction to Trump’s visit was subdued. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury bonds ticked higher after data showed new jobless claims dropped in the most recent week, signaling a stable labor market not in need of support from a Fed rate cut. The S&P 500 equities index closed largely flat on the day. Trump’s criticism of Powell and flirtation with firing him have previously upset financial markets and threatened a key underpinning of the global financial system that central banks are independent and free from political meddling. His trip contrasts with a handful of other documented presidential visits to the Fed. Then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited the central bank in 1937 to dedicate the newly-built headquarters, one of the two buildings now being renovated. Most recently, former President George W. Bush went there in 2006 to attend the swearing-in of Ben Bernanke as Fed chief. Ann Saphir, Jasper Ward and Kanishka Singh, Retuers
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E-Commerce
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