Free Press, Mijente Urge FCC to Reject Univision Deal, Foreign Ownership Ask

posted in docket 20-123 Thursday. Free Press and Mijente didn’t file a petition to deny the deal by the June 4 deadline -- nor did other entities -- and Friday was the deadline for oppositions to such petitions and for replies on the declaratory ruling. Free Press and Mijente also hadn’t filed in the declaratory ruling docket 20-122 before last week. MANA and the League of United Latin American Citizens asked the FCC to delay the proceeding and allow more time for comments, after DOJ's request that it be put on hold pending Team Telecom review. “The need for more local and diverse Spanish-language and Latinx-centered content is far too important for the Commission to simply rubber-stamp these transactions,” said Free Press and Mijente. Relaxed foreign broadcast ownership rules have “opened the door to more corporate consolidation and the global redistribution of U.S. broadcast assets,” said the joint letter. “This transaction would foreclose opportunities for diverse and local ownership of broadcast stations,” the two said. As "this nation grapples with the legacy and institutionalization of white supremacy and anti-blackness, we must ensure that communities can take greater control and ownership of their media,” Free Press and Mijente said. The Univision deal isn’t expected to hit regulatory snags because the investment firms don’t own any media properties that overlap with the broadcaster (see 2003030059).