Sen. Warren Urges Rosenworcel to Block Standard/Tegna
The concessions on retransmission consent and jobs offered by Standard General are “an obvious attempt” to weaken future legal challenges to the Standard/Tegna deal, and the FCC should block it, said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in a letter to Chairwoman…
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Jessica Rosenworcel Wednesday. Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Frank Pallone, D-N.J., have also weighed in against Standard/Tegna (see 2210060033). “Behavioral remedies like those offered by the parties are historically ineffective” and “should provide no comfort that these Wall Street firms will not engage in anticompetitive practices,” Warren said. Such remedies were the rationale for a federal court ruling that the T-Mobile/Sprint transaction didn’t violate antitrust laws, but they didn’t prevent T-Mobile from taking anticompetitive actions against Dish after the deal was complete, Warren said. “It will be similarly challenging for the FCC to monitor the parties in this transaction and ensure that they are complying with any required remedies,” Warren said. The deal would lead to higher retransmission consent costs being passed on to consumers, layoffs and collusion, Warren said. Citing a quote from FTC Chair Kahn urging agencies to block problematic deals outright, Warren urged Rosenworcel to use the FCC’s authority “aggressively in this matter and in other matters going forward.” Standard General didn't comment.