Brendan Carr’s FCC is more worried about who The View interviews than foreign governments owning Paramount

The Federal Communications Commission has opted to lift a 25% foreign ownership restriction for a proposed transaction combining Paramount and Warner Bros., permitting three Middle East sovereign wealth funds to acquire up to 49.5% of the merged company. The funds are run by the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. In its order the agency said the equity being bought does not carry voting rights and therefore cannot direct the licensed broadcast entities in the combined company.

The ruling drew immediate pushback from critics who say large stakes held by government-run investment vehicles in a major U.S. media conglomerate pose risks of indirect influence. Free Press, cited by Variety, said such government involvement in for-profit domestic news outlets would be an extraordinary and troubling development. FCC Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez posted on X that the agency had allowed “some of the most repressive governments in the world indirectly [to] control nearly all of a combined Paramount-Warner Bros.” and warned that a large investment can secure influence over what is produced and distributed.

The decision comes amid a period in which the FCC, under Chairman Brendan Carr, has taken actions construed by critics as hostile toward certain U.S. media organizations and journalists, including attempts to block some stations from airing interviews with political figures and scrutiny of network content. Those prior controversies were cited by commentators questioning the agency’s willingness to permit significant foreign government-linked investment in a major U.S. media company.

The FCC’s determination rests on the legal distinction between voting and nonvoting equity; the agency concluded the nonvoting shares in this deal do not amount to control over licensees. Opponents remain unconvinced, arguing that economic leverage and the strategic value of media assets could yield influence even without direct voting power. The controversy is likely to continue as stakeholders and lawmakers assess the implications for media independence and national policy toward foreign investment in cultural industries.