FCC Defends Nexstar-TEGNA Merger Approval in D.C. Circuit, Says Stay Would 'Needlessly Delay' Deal Benefits
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr tells reporters in Washington, D.C., Thursday that he and his two colleagues still might vote on the Media Bureau's March 19 decision approving the $6.2 billion transaction
Courts: The FCC urged a federal appeals court Thursday to support the agency’s decision to allow Nexstar Media Group to acquire TEGNA in a $6.2 billion transaction. “Approval of the merger promotes competition by ‘enabling a combined company to emerge as a stronger competitor’ in an increasingly challenging video marketplace for broadcasters. A stay would needlessly delay the realization of these substantial public interest benefits,” FCC General Counsel D. Adam Candeub said in a 31-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Newsmax, joining six state cable broadband associations, plus Free Press and DIRECTV, have asked the court to stay the Media Bureau’s March 19 approval and send it back to FCC for reversal or designate it for hearing – steps designed to block a deal that closed eight days ago. The FCC said it had authority to waive the 39% cap on TV household reach. “The Bureau reasonably explained that in light of media marketplace developments, there was good cause to grant a waiver of the national cap rule,” Candeub said. The FCC also allowed Nexstar to own three stations in 21 markets, one more station than allowed under current rules. “The Bureau granted the waiver with respect to 21 of the 23 markets. It determined that in those particular markets, the lowest-rated of the three stations in the proposed combination was so weak that it might not survive if Nexstar divested it,” Candeub added. The case is before Circuit Judges Robert L. Wilkins, Gregory G. Katsas, and Neomi Rao. Katsas and Rao are Trump appointees Wilkins was nominated by President Obama. (More after paywall)
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