Paramount Global and Skydance Media are nearing the finish line of their $8 billion merger. But after months of twists and turns, there's yet another hurdle standing in the way of controlling shareholder Shari Redstone passing off her family's empire to David Ellison: Donald Trump's new Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr.

Two reports in recent weeks, one posted Thursday by The New York Times and another earlier this month by The Wall Street Journal, suggested executives at Paramount were considering ways to bring the suit to a close.