FCC Dems Have Week to Vote Nexstar/Tribune, No Explicit Conditions Expected
FCC Democrats have been given about a week to vote on an order to approve the Nexstar/Tribune deal, an FCC official told us. The chairman’s office had sought to approve the deal sooner on delegated authority but is holding off at the Democrats' request. The item is expected to be approved 3-2 on circulation by next week or shortly afterward, FCC and industry officials said. The order doesn’t contain explicit conditions but may involve concessions from Nexstar related to the top-four duopoly rule, an FCC official said.
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The FCC should act with “additional urgency” to complete the Nexstar/Tribune deal, said Nexstar in meetings with aides to Democratic FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks Friday, according to an ex parte filing posted in docket 19-30 Wednesday. “Unnecessary or further delay of government consideration could increase financial costs for Nexstar or other parties to this transaction,” said the filing. The Nexstar/Tribune deal was listed Aug. 29 as having been circulated to eighth-floor offices. Nexstar’s December news release announcing the transaction said Tribune shareholders would get additional cash considerations if the deal wasn’t completed by Aug. 31, 2019.
Nexstar, the FCC, and the Starks and Rosenworcel offices didn’t comment.
Under FCC rules, the Democrats don’t have the power to block Chairman Ajit Pai from having an item approved on delegated authority, current and former FCC officials said. It’s not uncommon for FCC chairman to accede to a request from other commissioners to put something before the full FCC, a former FCC official said. As a commissioner, Pai was critical of then-Chairman Tom Wheeler for putting items through on delegated authority rather than relying on full commission votes (see 1701240020).
The deal’s structure has been changed in connection with the FCC’s top-four duopoly rule, an FCC official told us. Though the precise nature of the changes aren’t clear, DOJ in July highlighted the Indianapolis market as an area of concern (see 1908010035). As the transaction stood then, Nexstar would own two top-four stations in the Indianapolis designated market area. DOJ asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to “enjoin and restrain” Nexstar from completing the deal if it would combine Nexstar’s stations “in the Indianapolis DMA.” A Nexstar spokesperson told us the company hasn't arranged any further divestitures.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the deal were structured to avoid the FCC having to rule on an application for a top-four duopoly, a broadcast attorney said. The agency hasn't ruled on creating one since allowing for such waivers in 2017. Gray Television has had a pending application for a combination in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for nearly a year and a half (see 1904090063).