FCC Should Approve Nexstar/Media General Waiver, NAB Says
The FCC should approve Nexstar's buy of Media General and the acquirer's request for a waiver of the incentive auction rules (see 1609220035) that bar the consummation of the transaction while the auction is ongoing, NAB said in a letter…
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filed in docket 16-57 Wednesday. Broadcasters have operated under the auction's quiet period prohibitions for nine months, and it's not clear when the auction will end, NAB said. “The FCC’s delay in acting upon the proposed merger also has created ongoing and unnecessary uncertainty regarding associated transactions for divestitures that, if consummated, will increase female and minority ownership of television stations and result in the sale of other stations to small, independent broadcasters.” The FCC's stated policy reasons for forbidding deals during the auction don't apply here, since Nexstar and Media General are both auction participants, and their deal was announced before the anti-collusion rules took effect, NAB said. The FCC's 180-day shot clock for the deal reached 180 about 50 days ago, and DOJ already gave its nod, the association said. “Reflexive application” of the auction rules to block the deal's consummation serves “no practical purpose and only will exacerbate the harm to broadcasters, both large and small, of the lengthy, continuing freeze placed on the entire broadcast television industry,” NAB said.