Export Compliance Daily is a Warren News publication.

Media Bureau Seeks Retrans, Revenue Data on Sinclair/Tribune Top-4 Duopolies

The FCC Media Bureau wants Sinclair and its prospective purchase partner Tribune to provide information on the merger’s proposed top-four duopolies “for the Commission to review the applications and make the necessary public interest finding,” said Chief Michelle Carey in…

Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article

Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.

a letter to the broadcasters posted Tuesday in docket 17-179. The letter was issued along with Monday’s public notice calling for comments on amendments to the deal (see 1805210056). The bureau wants the broadcasters to provide numbers on retrans revenue, retrans fees, advertising revenue and Nielsen ratings data for the St. Louis and Indianapolis designated market areas, the markets where Sinclair seeks to own top-four duopolies. “Cheers to @FCC for now seeking some retrans data/info from Sinclair in markets where company could obtain a duopoly,” tweeted American Cable Association Senior Vice President Ross Lieberman. ACA has opposed the Sinclair deal over its projected effect on retrans rates. The agency chose “NOT to request such data in its last formal request (Sept. '17),” Lieberman said.