Will the DOJ try to stop Sony Pictures Entertainment (owner of Sony Pictures & Columbia Pictures) and Apollo (a private equity firm) as leads of a group from buying Paramount (owner of Paramount Pictures and CBS)? This would leave only two other major studio (Warner Bros. & Universal). It would also mean an issue with CBS, as a foreign entity (Sony Pictures Entertainment parent company, Sony, and at what percentage of ownership?) can't own a US broadcast network.
Will DOJ fight the entire takeover, or just require that they sell off CBS?
No one seems to be talking about this.
REFERENCE:
The Statutory Law in a Nutshell
Section 310(b)(3) of the Communications Act specifies that the Commission may not grant a broadcast application to a proposed licensee of which more than 20% of the equity is directly owned of record or voted by non-US citizens (including those holding “green cards”), a foreign government, or an entity organized under the laws of a foreign country (referred to in the Communications Act as “aliens”). The FCC has no statutory authority to allow direct foreign investment in a broadcast licensee in excess of this 20% cap.
In contrast to the statutory limit on direct foreign ownership of a broadcast license, Section 310(b)(4) specifies that, if a proposed broadcast licensee is directly or indirectly controlled by a holding company, the Commission may refuse to grant a license to that proposed licensee if more than 25% of the capital stock of the holding company will be owned of record or voted by aliens and if the FCC finds that the public interest will be served by a refusal to grant the broadcast license. Historically, FCC public interest determinations to allow indirect foreign investments in broadcast properties in excess of 25% have been extremely rare, and as a result, both broadcasters and foreign investors had considered 25% to be a de facto cap on indirect foreign ownership of U.S. radio and television stations.
2013 FCC Declaratory Ruling
In an effort to remove uncertainty surrounding the limitations on foreign investment in broadcast licenses, the FCC issued a Declaratory Ruling in 2013 announcing that the 25% statutory benchmark is not immutable. Thus, the FCC will consider whether indirect foreign voting or equity ownership interests exceeding 25% would serve the public interest based on the unique facts of each case, taking into account public interest and national security considerations..
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