Blumenthal, Colleagues Challenge FCC to Conduct Full Review of Foreign Investment Concerns in Paramount & Warner Bros. Merger

[Hartford, CT] - U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) joined Senate colleagues in a letter demanding a thorough review of the proposed $111 billion merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, amid reports of substantial foreign investment embedded in the transaction.

The letter, led by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and joined by Senator Blumenthal, Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Democratic Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), addresses Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr expressing deep concern that sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Tencent Holdings are providing billions in financing for the merger.

"This constellation of foreign investment from China and from Gulf states, with complex and sometimes competing relationships with the United States, demands rigorous, not perfunctory, review," wrote the senators.

The senators also expressed grave concerns about Tencent Holdings having a stake in the parent company of CBS News and CNN. The company's relationship with the Chinese Communist Party, along with the Chinese government's law requiring domestic technology companies to cooperate with state intelligence services on demand, creates multiple avenues for foreign influence over America's journalists and content.

"Paramount's representations that these investors will hold no governance rights demand careful independent verification. Even as non-governing partners, their massive investment creates significant opportunity for soft power and influence over CNN's editorial decisions and business priorities. That concern extends beyond our borders. CNN International is distributed in over 200 countries and territories, and CNN Newsource is the world's most extensively relied-upon news service, partnering with over 1,000 local and international news organizations around the world. The potential for foreign government influence over American journalism at home and abroad is not hypothetical. It is structural, and it is unchecked," the senators continued.

The senators are urging the FCC to take the following steps:

1. Conduct a full and independent Section 310(b) review of all foreign ownership interests in this transaction, including Tencent and all Gulf sovereign wealth funds, before any approval is granted.
2. Deny any confidentiality requests to Paramount and require it to publicly file all instruments documenting the foreign investment commitments in this transaction including equity commitment letters, subscription agreements, side letters, and any commercial agreements between the foreign investors and the combined entity.
3. Issue a public request for information and public comment specifically focused on the foreign investment components of this transaction.
4. Coordinate with CFIUS, the Department of Justice National Security Division, and relevant intelligence agencies before concluding that any component of the financing is risk-free.
5. Reject the premise that a deal of this magnitude that involves the broadcast licenses for CBS, significant news operations including CNN, and major content distribution infrastructure, warrants only minimal FCC involvement.

"The FCC's foreign ownership review process exists for exactly this moment. American broadcast infrastructure is not merely a commercial asset; it is a critical component of our national information environment. The Communications Act charges the Commission with protecting the public interest. We urge the Commission to honor that charge," the senators concluded.

To read the full text of the letter, click here.

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