Media Group, is involved in financing the deal. Following the close of the transaction, Cox will acquire Tegna stations in Austin , Dallas and Houston from Standard General.
The decision to send the merger to an administrative law judge reflects a more robust posture by Biden-era regulators toward media consolidation. The FCC is split 2-2 between the parties, as the nominee for a fifth seat, Gigi Sohn, has been delayed in the Senate for more than a year. Mergers need an affirmative majority vote to get the regulatory greenlight.
The chief of the FCC’s media bureau wrote in the order designating the hearing that there were “significant concerns that warrant further investigation. In particular, substantial and material questions remain as to both the potential impact, and possible harm, to consumers through higher retransmission consent fees, and the effect on localism through potential reductions in local jobs.”Last fall, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi weighed in on the deal, joining with Rep.
Standard General had argued that the company, led by Soo Kim and Deb McDermott, will be the largest minority-owned and female-led broadcast station group in history, as broadcast diversity remains a primary FCC concern. The company had said that it has “made it clear” in the record that it will not replace local news content with generalized D.C. content, and that it had “made a commitment” in the FCC record that it “was not planning” to cut station jobs. It also said that it actually protested Tegna’s furlough of employees during the pandemic, and that the transaction involved the sale of free, over-the-air stations, pointing to cable operators as the ones responsible for price decisions.