The FCC approved Gray buying Raycom for about $3.6 billion without more conditions beyond divestitures proffered by Gray, said an order Thursday, as expected (see 1812180034). The deal was approved by the Media Bureau on delegated authority, and includes a sign-off on the two existing top-four combinations in Texas and Hawaii. “The regulatory consents include no unexpected or unusual terms and conditions,” Gray said. Now with both FCC and DOJ approval (see 1812140019), the deal is expected to close Jan. 1, Gray said. The transaction includes divestitures in nine markets totaling $235 million to Lockwood Broadcasting, E.W. Scripps, Marquee Broadcasting and Tegna. When the purchase is complete, Gray will be third largest U.S. broadcast group, with 133 TV stations in 92 markets, Gray said. Per the order, the combination’s ownership reach will be 17 percent with the UHF discount. It would rise to 24 percent without the discount, Gray said. The deal includes nonbroadcast Raycom businesses Raycom Sports and automotive production company RTM Productions. Raycom CEO Pat LaPlatney and other executives will join the new Gray (see 1806250010). No petitions to deny were filed, but NCTA, Dish Network and the American Cable Association raised concerns about the combination’s effect on retransmission consent prices. “Commenters’ allegations regarding retransmission consent do not raise a substantial and material question of fact as to whether grant of the Applications would serve the public interest,” the bureau said.

The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment on Ion’s proposal for an amendment to the DTV Table of Allotments to change the community of license for its Tennessee station WNPX-TV Cookeville to Franklin, said an NPRM in Wednesday. The move would give Franklin its first local TV station, Ion has said. Comments are due in docket 18-383 after Federal Register publication. Earlier this month, the company got Media Bureau OK to move in Kentucky WUPX-TV Morehead to Richmond, a bigger city (see 1812110063).

The investigation into CEO Les Moonves should cast doubt on CBS fitness to hold an FCC license, and the agency needs to obtain and review CBS’ investigation (see 1812170050) before rejecting calls to overturn the already-approved Entercom purchase of CBS Radio, said broadcast owner Edward Stolz in a reply filing in his latest appeal of that deal, posted Wednesday in docket 17-85. Stolz’s many previous filings against the deal, which was approved more than a year ago, have been rejected by the agency and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. “There now appears to be no doubt that former CBS Corporation chairman and chief executive officer Leslie Moonves was a sexual predator,” said Stolz: Lack of timeliness shouldn’t prevent the FCC from taking the information into account. CBS and Entercom didn’t comment.

A Sinclair attempt to negotiate settlement with the Enforcement Bureau over allegations in the Sinclair/Tribune hearing designation order would raise “significant legal questions,” ACA replied to Sinclair’s opposition of ACA’s petition for the FCC to require an early renewal process for Sinclair’s stations (see 1812110062). Sinclair argued ACA doesn’t have standing to make the request and the FCC shouldn’t require early renewals. Attorneys said Sinclair is likely looking for a way to resolve the alleged issues of candor through a consent decree. The FCC “has a statutory obligation to resolve issues about an applicant’s basic qualifications on the merits,” ACA said, calling the matter “perhaps the highest profile allegations of lying in Commission history.” ACA said the higher retransmission and programming rates its members would face if Sinclair’s licenses are renewed give it standing. The company “stands accused of lying to the Commission -- conduct that, if established, calls into question its qualifications to hold any FCC licenses,” ACA said. The broadcaster didn’t comment Tuesday.

A radio station settled with the FCC for $12,000 over allegations it broke agency contest rules and transferred control of the station without authorization, said a consent decree in Monday’s Daily Digest. Sound Ideas WYDK(FM) Eufaula, Alabama, prematurely ended a 2016 contest and kept the prizes for its own employee, the consent decree said. When the FCC investigated, the licensee’s response led to the commission uncovering the station’s unauthorized transfer to a new owner, the consent decree said. “The Licensee claimed to have no knowledge about the Contest and claimed to be unable to locate records about the Contest; this professed lack of knowledge about Station operations raised questions about the Licensee’s control over the Station." Sound Ideas must institute a compliance plan and training regimen.

The full FCC denied a 2011 application for review of a decision on a Raycom affiliation swap from 2009 and granted renewal of the station licenses, in what broadcast attorneys said is likely a prelude to FCC approval of Gray’s proposed buy of Raycom. DOJ gave its nod to the deal Friday (see 1812140019). The appeal, filed by anti-consolidation group Media Council Hawaii, challenged Raycom’s swap of affiliations and shared services agreement with HITV, which led to Raycom’s ownership of top-four network Honolulu stations KHNL and KGMB and operation of HITV’s station KFVE Honolulu. Media Council had argued the swap allowed Raycom to break the commission’s duopoly rules, but Raycom said no FCC approval was needed for the transaction. “We affirm the Bureau’s determination that the duopoly rule did not bar the affiliation swap at issue here,” Monday’s order said. The FCC also said Raycom didn’t exercise undue control over KFVE. The order rejected Media Council allegations that Raycom and HITV misrepresented facts to the agency. “Media Council fails to support its character allegations against Raycom with evidence suggesting that Raycom intended to deceive the Commission, nor do we find any such indication based on a review of the record as a whole,” the order said.

CBS has grounds to terminate former CEO Les Moonves for cause for “willful and material misfeasance,” violating company policies and failing to cooperate with the investigation, the board said Monday. He won't get severance. Moonves stood to collect $120 million in severance had the board determined he was fired without cause (see 1809100026). The investigation showed CBS’ policies “have not reflected a high institutional priority on preventing harassment and retaliation,” the company said, though it said harassment and retaliation aren’t “pervasive." CBS has appointed new chief people officer Laurie Rosenfield (see 1810110052) and retained “outside expert advisors” to develop initiatives to promote workplace “dignity, transparency, respect and inclusion,” it said.

The FCC's final 2018 quadrennial review NPRM emphasizes more than the previously released draft that broadcast ownership rules may not be retained, a version comparison shows. Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said Wednesday (see 1812120054) he pushed for “stylistic” changes to make sure it didn’t lean away from removing rules, though he called the finished product “benign” and said it didn’t go far enough. A comparison of the two versions, which O'Rielly suggested we do when asked questions about what changed, shows addition or promotion of language saying the rules may not be retained. On the local radio rule, the original asks if the rule “continues to serve the public interest and remains necessary” while the final seeks comment “on whether the current Local Radio Ownership Rule remains necessary in the public interest.” Similar changes were made throughout. In a section on numerical limits, the phrase “If the commission decides the rule is still necessary” replaced language saying comments would be sought on whether the rule is necessary. The word “necessary” was also added to several sections on the local TV rule, and language suggesting the radio rules may or may not be retained was added to the embedded markets section, among others. The final version released Thursday rephrased sentences mentioning “localism” and “viewpoint diversity” as a goal for some rules. In the draft section on the local radio rule, those phrases were removed from the first sentence of a paragraph with the QR’s questions about the rule and moved to the end of the paragraph. “We also seek comment on whether the Local Radio Ownership Rule is necessary to promote localism or viewpoint diversity,” the paragraph now finishes. In a section on the AM/FM subcaps, the final also omits a comment from the publisher of Radio Ink that was included in the draft version that called NAB’s subcap proposal “a fool’s game.” The FCC also released Thursday the test reclassification declaratory ruling, approved over a Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel dissent (see 1812120043). “This decision removes regulatory uncertainty, empowers providers to continue protecting consumers from unwanted text messages, and should foster further innovation and investment in messaging services,” the ruling says. Also released was an order on service rule changes for an auction next year of the upper 37, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands (see 1812120046).

E.W. Scripps completed the process of selling its radio stations, closing on an $8 million deal for eight stations to Lotus Communications, it said in a release. Total proceeds from the sale of Scripps' entire radio division were $83.5 million, which also includes 19 stations sold to Summit Communications, five to Griffin Communications and two to Good Karma Brands, it said.

A New York pirate radio operator was arraigned Wednesday on a charge of unauthorized radio transmission after an investigation by the FCC Enforcement Bureau and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the commission announced Wednesday. Richard Dominguez of Croton-on-Hudson was allegedly operating an unauthorized station he branded “La Mojada FM." County officials seized Dominguez’s equipment and arrested him after the bureau shared information with them, the FCC said. A website apparently related to the alleged pirate said "this Account has been suspended." A phone call to a number seemingly associated with the station was answered by someone who said he is Dominguez's brother, and that his brother left the country following the court hearing. The alleged pirate pleaded not guilty and is due back in court next month, said a DA's office spokesperson.