US: Appeals court removes FCC roadblock to Sinclair-Tribune merger

The federal appeals court in Washington, DC, has removed a temporary regulatory hurdle to Sinclair Broadcast’s US$3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media.

The court of appeals for the DC circuit removed the temporary stay granted on June 1 on the FCC’s decision to reinstate its so-called UHF discount in connection with its rules regarding limitations on the number of TV stations that a single entity can own.

The UHF discount is crucial to allowing Sinclair to acquire Tribune Media’s 42 stations, a deal that would make Sinclair by far the nation’s largest broadcast group with more than 220 stations covering some 72% of US TV households. The merger agreement was announced May 8 but the federal court’s decision to grant a stay on the UHF discount issue raised questions about whether the deal would pass regulatory muster.

“We are pleased that the Court denied the motion for an emergency stay of a rule that had been in effect for decades,” Sinclair said in a statement. “We remain confident that the Court will conclude on the merits that the UHF discount should remain in place until a thorough review of the current ownership rules is completed.”

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