Donald Trump has filed lawsuits against Disney’s ABC and Paramount Global’s PARA 1.70%increase; green up pointing triangle CBS, railed against “fake” and “failing” news organizations, and called for the government to revoke some broadcasters’ licenses.
Now, according to The Wall Street Journal, he will be bringing those grudges back to the White House. The question is whether Trump will stay in the realm of verbal attacks against news organizations and personalities—or extend into regulatory action.
Mergers offer an avenue for Trump to exercise his clout. Business leaders expect the next Trump administration to foster a more permissive overall dealmaking environment. But Washington observers say media companies are a special case, because editorial content can be a wild card in influencing Trump’s approach to the sector.
“Will they feel a chill? They might,” said Robert McDowell, a former commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission. With plenty of pent-up demand for deals, he said, media companies considering such moves might have concerns. “I would definitely have to think how the administration views me and how that would affect regulatory approvals,” said McDowell, a Republican who is now a partner at law firm Cooley.
Trump will return to office as a handful of major deals await U.S. approval, including Skydance Media’s merger with Paramount Global and the union of satellite broadcasting companies DirecTV and Dish.
Comcast is also considering spinning off its cable-television networks, including MSNBC and USA, into a separate, publicly traded company, with an eye on acquiring assets to add into such a venture.
Telecom and media lobbyists say the next administration could be unpredictable when it comes to dealmaking and regulation.
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