Dish, PK, ACA Seek Confidential Retrans Information, More Comment Time on Sinclair/Tribune
The FCC should provide more time for parties to comment and request additional information on Sinclair buying Tribune, said Public Knowledge, Dish Network and the American Cable Association in a joint motion posted Wednesday in docket 17-179. The motion seeks…
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detailed information about companies’ retransmission consent contracts, recently acquired stations, and the deal’s public interest benefits. The proposed release of contract terms during FCC consideration of the since-scuttled Comcast/ Time Warner Cable led to a court case, but the motion said a protective order designating such documents “highly confidential” would address secrecy concerns. “Applicants’ retransmission consent agreements are necessary to the analysis of whether the proposed transaction creates or enhances the Applicants’ market power or facilities its exercise in the retransmission consent market,” the motion said. “Even the Applicants appear to acknowledge” that the deal “raises substantial legal and policy issues,” said the motion, referring to Sinclair filings that concede that some aspects of the deal may not be in compliance with media ownership rules. “The applications provide insufficient information for the Commission to validate, let alone quantify, the claimed public interest benefits,” the motion said. The entities also want the comment period for the deal extended to 30 days after such confidential documents are produced.