David Folkenflik

The commission didn't even have a public debate or a vote.

Its lone Democrat condemned the decision.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr argues the move will ensure the viability of local stations.

Carr said he wants to strengthen the hand of local station owners against national networks.

As it sought approval, Nexstar backed Carr's attacks on ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and mocked CNN in an ad campaign.

The Justice Department also signed off on the deal.

David Folkenflik, NPR News.

We've talked to a half dozen folks inside CNN in the last 24 hours.

They, of course, are speaking on the condition they not be named because they're fearful about job security down the line, and they haven't been authorized to talk about this stuff.

But there are two real...

fears they invoke.

And one, I think it's financial and it would be regardless of the climate around them.

And the second is the question of journalistic independence.

And I think that's about the here and now.

You'd have Warner Brothers Studios and Paramount Studios under the same roof.

You'd have Paramount Plus, the streaming property, which is a bit on the smaller side, paired with HBO Max, one of the dominant streamers coming from Hollywood.

You'd have CBS and CBS News with CNN and Comedy Central and Discovery and TBS and a bunch of other properties showing a lot of entertainment and sports.

This is going to be a major player in Hollywood intended to take on the streamers, not just Netflix, but also Amazon Prime and Apple to have, you know, a major force to walk into the future of streaming.

The Paramount deal would create a Hollywood behemoth to take on streaming giants, very much including Netflix.

It would put CBS, CNN, streamers HBO Max and Paramount+.