this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2026
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politics

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Concerns are mounting about the state of the US media landscape now that it looks increasingly likely that Paramount Skydance—a company controlled by the son of billionaire Larry Ellison, a donor to President Donald Trump—will succeed in its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

One day after Netflix announced that it was dropping its previously accepted bid to buy Warner, many critics demanded that antitrust laws be invoked to block the Paramount-Warner merger from going through.

Alvaro Bedoya, former commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, warned that the Ellison family could soon use their control over vast swaths of US media properties to engage in mass censorship, and he pointed to their decisions to cancel Stephen Colbert’s program and to refuse to air an interview with Democratic US Senate candidate James Talarico.

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[–] DagwoodIII@piefed.social 97 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Know the history.

Back when radio/TV were just getting started, the FCC created a set of rules to make sure that the public would be well informed. One company could only own two radio stations [AM and FM] and one TV station in a town. Even the Big Three netowrks were limited to six stations across the country.

Another rule was that if a station broadcast any editorial they had to offer equal time for opposing views.

After Watergate, the Right think tanks realized that the reason Nixon went down was that there was a robust news gathering media that was beyond their control. As soon as Reagan took office he started 'deregulating' the media. By 1996, the Fairness Doctrine was dead.

For those who are about to start crying about cable TV not being the same as broadcast; the FCC covers cable. The GOP made sure that Fox News could be as terrible as it is.

[–] waddle_dee@lemmy.world 35 points 1 day ago

not exactly, while Fairness did provide equal time for political views, it also kept anchors from just outright lying, or obfuscating the truth for a story. once that was killed under Reagan, conservative talk radio blew up. and then that brings us to today.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Back when radio/TV were just getting started, the FCC created a set of rules to make sure that the public would be well informed.

This is revisionist.

The FCC created a set of rules to manage a broadcasting cartel. Changes in technology shifted the domain of ownership from the production companies to the telecommunication companies and eventually the data center companies.

But we started as a cartel. We're still a cartel. The FCC has done nothing to change that (and made many moves to entrench it - the forced sale of TikTok being only the latest).

As soon as Reagan took office he started ‘deregulating’ the media. By 1996, the Fairness Doctrine was dead.

The Fairness Doctrine was an enrichment of the two party system. Reagan simply took the next logical step and made it a one party system.

[–] beelzebum@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

FCC did not force the sale of TikTok, Congress did

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr labeled TikTok a "clear and present danger" to US national security, urging its removal from app stores due to concerns over data access by China. Citing reports of ByteDance personnel in Beijing accessing sensitive American user data, Carr argued the app acts as a surveillance tool

[–] Zedstrian@sopuli.xyz 53 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

Any competent antitrust regulator would block this without second thought.

American antitrust law is a joke.

[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The laws are still there. They're just not enforced.

Which is the punchline of said joke.

[–] desmosthenes@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

and has been for some time..

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

When is the last time they did anything substantive? I can only really think of breaking up Ma Bell. The lawsuit started in 1974 and the breakup didn't happen until 1984.

[–] grimpy@lemmy.myserv.one 2 points 1 day ago

since about 1981 or so…

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I expect a whole lot of shows to be completely ruined on HBO. How long until John Oliver's show is cancelled? Bill Maher will probably bend the knee and stay on.

CNN was already quite corporate as-is, I expect they'll become ridiculously obsequious, just like CBS.

The right wing will probably think both are still too "woke", since they (and honestly, a lot of the centrists and low-info, too) have bought into the stupid myth of a "liberal media", LOL. The existence of a mainstream "liberal media" in America has never really been a thing.

[–] brownsugga@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Bill Maher is a spineless weasel, boomer asshat

[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I guess I’m unsubscribing from HBO Max as well as paramount plus….

[–] TheLowestStone@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Unsubscribe from ALL streaming services.

[–] desmosthenes@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

👆 pirating is back

[–] MrSelfDestruct25@fedinsfw.app 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] WindyRebel@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] MrSelfDestruct25@fedinsfw.app 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Criterion channel. Not sure what their parent company is if they have one, but they have curated movies that are usually artsy or have some critically acclaimed awards. I guess some would say a streaming service for movie snobs.

[–] WindyRebel@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Fantastic. Thank you for this. I’d never heard of them before, so I’ll check it out.

[–] triptrapper@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

It's an unbelievable gift. You can pretty much play anything on Criterion and it will be somewhat nutritious (as the Buddhists would say)

[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago (2 children)

So there goes John Oliver's Last Week Tonight, too.

Fuck.

[–] Captainvaqina@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What if I told you that you don't have to subscribe to watch it?

[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

I'm doing that already but I also fully expect new management to not renew their contract the same Paramount did to Colbert.

[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago

Nah, he’ll be good! Just like Colbert.

One far right family of billionaires

[–] grimpy@lemmy.myserv.one 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Coming Soon! Skydance Becomes Skynet!

[–] grimpy@lemmy.myserv.one 1 points 1 day ago

“In the first film, it is stated that Skynet was created by Cyberdyne Systems for SAC-NORAD. When Skynet gained self-awareness, humans tried to deactivate it, prompting it to retaliate with a countervalue nuclear attack, an event which humankind in (or from) the future refers to as Judgment Day. In this future, John Connor leads the human resistance against Skynet's machines—which include Terminators—and ultimately leads the resistance to victory. Throughout the film series, Skynet sends various Terminator models back in time to kill Connor or his relatives and ensure Skynet's victory.” -Wikipedia

[–] brownsugga@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

It's not like David Ellison has his own money. This is all Larry- a confirmed Zionist btw

[–] quick_snail@feddit.nl 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Good riddance. Those are all trash, anyway

[–] golli@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Disagree that HBO is trash. But the issue is that even if one doesn't like and avoids them, they shape the perception of other people. So no matter how much/little oneself engages with them, you can't really escape the indirect effects.