Skydance Deal Sparks Studio Protest Over Redstone Payout

Fuse Media, a Latino-owned entertainment company, has become the latest party to raise objections to the pending Skydance-Paramount merger, suggesting to a federal regulator that Paramount Chair Shari Redstone would be overpaid in the deal, to the detriment of the media business.

In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, reviewed by Bloomberg News, Fuse echoed concerns raised by money manager Mario Gabelli that Redstone is receiving a higher premium than other Class A shareholders. The new company could better spend that money “investing in operational functions, such as the production of local news or general entertainment content,” Fuse wrote. “This would be contrary to the Commission’s charge to promote localism, viewpoint diversity, and the public interest generally.”