they can steal from everybody.
Sen. Cruz and Rep. McMorris Rodgers wrote:
“On February 24, 2023, Standard General’s plans to acquire TEGNA’s 61 full-power TV stations and two full-power radio stations were thwarted when the FCC’s Media Bureau, purportedly acting under Commission-delegated authority, issued a Hearing Designation Order (“HDO”) that referred the transaction to an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) hearing. In the past 30 years, no broadcast license transfer has gone through the hearing process in less than 358 days (the average time is 799 days). With the deadline for financing of the Standard General-TEGNA deal expiring on May 22, 2023, the Media Bureau’s action effectively kills the transaction.
Anybody who wants to buy a communication network has to jump through government hoops. Certainly, Standard General knows that and probably thought they had everything in order with the Commerce Department’s Media Bureau. Until they didn’t.
“The Media Bureau’s decision to send the transaction to an ALJ hearing violates Commission rules and precedents in several ways. First, to keep the Commission accountable to Congress and the public, a full Commission vote is required for certain matters, particularly those involving novel issues and/or significant legal or policy consequences. Designating a multi-billion-dollar transaction such as the Standard General-TEGNA transaction for an ALJ hearing is precisely the type of serious decision for which commissioners must take responsibility. The last time the FCC referred a major transaction to an ALJ, the decision was made at the Commission level, and the FCC should not have departed from that precedent. Second, the Media Bureau’s HDO relied on novel interpretations of the Commission’s public interest standard and appeared to ignore—if not contradict—the Commission’s precedent that ‘an increase in retransmission consent rates, by itself’ does not constitute a public interest harm. Third, under Commission precedent, the Media Bureau should have provided the full Commission 48 hours’ notice before issuing the HDO on February 24, 2023. It did not.”
influential Democrats are behind this rapscallion conspiracy? Say it ain’t so!
…According to numerous public reports, outside interests pushed Commission officials to block this transaction in order to pave the way for an alternative buyer, namely Byron Allen. For example, the Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Allen’s Allen Media Group had previously tried, unsuccessfully, to acquire TEGNA in the fall of 2021. Coincidentally, Mr. Allen is a major Democratic donor. In 2021, he donated $2,900 to Nancy Pelosi’s campaign fund, $5,000 to PAC to the Future, $44,000 to the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund, and $255,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, among others. After the Standard General-TEGNA transaction was announced in 2022, he donated $250,000 to the House Majority PAC and $100,000 to the Senate Majority PAC. Some have observed that the well-connected Mr. Allen is ‘the most likely beneficiary if the Standard General deal falls through.’”
That Byron Allen, he sure knows how to play the democrat game.
As one familiar with the term eeoc compliance, I might even call the representative to inquire how this situation could happen in the land of the free.
Update April 9 2023 Easter Sunday Celebrating Christ’s Triumph
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_General
Tegna and Cox Media Group
On February 22, 2022, Tegna Inc. announced that it had agreed to be taken private by a group led by Standard General and Apollo Global Management for $24 per-share, valuing the company at $5.4 billion.[29] The company, which will retain the Tegna name, will be controlled by an affiliate of Standard General, with Standard Media CEO Deb McDermott (who previously led Young Broadcasting and Media General) becoming CEO. Affiliates of AGM, as well as Cox Media Group (which is principally owned by AGM, with Cox Enterprises as a minority shareholder) and other investors, will hold non-voting shares in the company. Tegna’s digital advertising subsidiary Premion will be held as a standalone business between Standard and CMG. The sale includes a clause that will slowly increase the value that Standard and Apollo will pay per-share if the sale takes longer than nine months to close.[29][30][31]
The sale will also result in the realignment of station holdings presently associated with both companies: Standard Media’s four stations WDKA, WLNE-TV, KBSI, and KLKN will be sold to Cox Media Group, which will then divest its Boston station WFXT to Tegna and Standard General, and acquire WFAA/KMPX, KHOU/KTBU, and KVUE, from Tegna.[29][30][31]
On March 30, 2022, Cox Media Group announced that it would sell 18 stations, namely KLAX in Alexandria, WICZ in Binghamton, KIEM and KVIQ-LD in Eureka, WABG, WNBD and WXVT in Greenwood, KPVI in Idaho Falls, KMVU and KFBI-LD in Medford, WHBQ in Memphis, KAYU in Spokane, WSYT in Syracuse, KOKI and KMYT in Tulsa, KCYU-LD and KFFX in Yakima and KYMA in Yuma to Imagicomm Communications—a shell company affiliated with the cable network INSP—for an undisclosed amount.[32][33][34][35] The sale was completed on August 1.[36]
The sale was approved by Standard General and Apollo Global Management on May 17, 2022.[37] It still awaits FCC approval.
In October 2022, Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Frank Pallone and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi issued a letter to the FCC expressing concerns for the transaction, arguing that it “would violate the FCC’s mandate by restricting access to local news coverage, cutting jobs at local television stations, and raising prices on consumers.” They specifically cited statements by Standard General regarding plans for a Washington, D.C. bureau to produce content for local newscasts, and arguing that Tegna’s stations had “too many employees”. Standard General responded to the letter, denying that they planned to cut jobs or hub content, and promoting that Tegna would become the largest female-run and minority-owned broadcaster in the United States. They also responded to objections by NewsGuild-CWA describing Standard General as “backed by anonymous investors located in the Cayman Islands”, stating that the entirety of its board is represented by U.S. interests.[38]
In February 2023, it was confirmed that the deal would be given a hearing before an administrative law judge, which the FCC Commissioner’s Board voted to remand the merger review toward on May 22.[39]
This guy is betting with the house.
Standard General’s latest legal maneuvers are “highly unlikely” to succeed in rescuing Standard General’s proposed acquisition of Tegna, which is close to being killed by a long regulatory review, according to former FCC chief of staff Blair Levin.
Levin doesn’t believe in miracles?