FCC chair rejects Sinclair-Tribune merger

[Blue_Adept]

Source: The Hill

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai said Monday that he has "serious concerns" about the proposed merger between the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media.

Pai said in a statement that he has proposed sending the $3.9 billion deal before an administrative law judge, a process that could kill the merger's chances of being approved.

"The evidence we’ve received suggests that certain station divestitures that have been proposed to the FCC would allow Sinclair to control those stations in practice, even if not in name, in violation of the law," he said.


Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/technology/397194-fcc-chairman-rejects-sinclair-tribune-merger

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no more at link (yet)

[RKP5637]

1. K&R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[ChiTownDenny]

11. Sonofabitch.

Shocking!

[Iliyah]

2. Im sorry but I do not believe him.

These are some very sneaky assholes.

[Brother Buzz]

5. I believe him, but I can also believe the fix is in

This ass already has a favorable judge in his pocket, bank on it.

[onenote]

7. The FCC has only one ALJ and he's not in anyone's pocket

Richard Sippel is the FCC's only ALJ (and the only one budgeted for the agency). He is adamantly independent. For example, when Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin sought to punish various cable companies and reward a right-wing billionaire who had created a channel called "Wealth TV" (and who later founded the OneAmerica News Network which is to the right of Fox News), Sippel made several rulings that so enraged the chairman that he sought to bypass the judge. That didn't work and ultimately, Sippel ruled against Wealth TV.

[Qutzupalotl]

3. If it doesn't involve Verizon, Pai doesn't give a shit.

I’m glad he slowed this merger, at least for now. That’s good news.

[turbinetree]

4. So he suggests that propaganda should not be expanded................

for the right wing cause of bull shit............................

They will find a judge, since the courts are being packed with right wing hacks.....................to have this "merger" of fascism to proceed.......................

He should have said that this merger "should not go forward"......................it adds more weight .................its all about semantics of words...........................


November 2018 cannot get here fast enough............................get out and vote

[onenote]

14. The judge that will hear the case is Richard Sippel, the FCC's Administrative Law Judge

He's been at the FCC for longer than I can remember. He is not a hack and he's not in anyone's pocket. While there will be some effort to hold a hearing on an expedited basis, Sippel can and will set his own schedule (he's ignored schedules that the FCC Chairman has attempted to foist on him in the past). The longer the process drags out, the greater the likelihood that the entire deal falls apart. And that's just the FCC process, not the review by the federal courts.

To give an example, a wealthy right wing billionaire who started up a network called WealthTV filed a complaint against Time Warner, Comcast and other cable companies alleging that they were discriminating against his network (by refusing to carry it) back in the late 2007. In the fall of 2008, the right wing FCC Chairman directed that a Hearing Designation Order be issued for the complaint to be heard by Judge Sippel. The Order stipulated that the Judge had to make a decision within 60 days. Sippel ruled that he wasn't bound by that schedule and that he could and would give the matter a thorough de novo review. That pissed off the FCC chairman who tried to pull the case back from the judge so that it could be decided without a hearing. But the 2008 election intervened and one of the first actions taken by Obama's new FCC chairman was to withdraw the order and give the case back to Sippel. The case was tried in the spring of 2009 and an initial decision was issued in October 2009. The FCC then had to review the judge's decision, which took until June of 2011. WealthTV lost and it sought reconsideration. By the time the FCC and then the Court of Appeals had reviewed and upheld the judge's ruling, it was mid-2013.

In other words, being designated for a hearing in and of itself can block actions for a very long time.

[turbinetree]

16. Wado------------Thank you

For the information.......................

[hedda_foil]

6. Pai proposes sending deal to administrative law judge -- now taken over by Trump WH

https://www.bna.com/trump-order-wont-n73014477359/

President Donald Trump’s new executive order allowing federal agency heads to directly appoint administrative law judges won’t make the ALJs more susceptible to political partisanship, Office of Personnel Management Director Jeff Pon told Bloomberg Law July 12.

“That’s Washington theater,” Pon said of concerns that the order would politicize judges who decide everything from labor-relations and workplace safety cases to Social Security disability claims and tax disputes. “The Supreme Court ruled that they were an inferior appointment,” he said, “and that we couldn’t hire” ALJs the same way judges are hired, “or that we couldn’t do it the way we had been doing it.”

Pon’s comments come as at least one group, the Association of Administrative Law Judges, is considering a possible lawsuit to block the order. The OPM chief is the face of an ambitious Trump administration plan to overhaul the federal government, including by reorganizing agencies, weakening employee union power, and making it easier to fire workers.

[kimbutgar]

8. My question is where is Sinclair getting the money to buy these media properties?

Russian Oligarchs probably.

[onenote]

10. From you.

Sinclair is a very profitable company. It has total revenues in excess if $2.5 billion a year. It's net revenues have been increasing year over year, in significant part from its aggressive pursuit of "retransmission consent" fees from multichannel subscription video services such as cable operators, direct broadcast satellite companies, etc. It's plan was to buy the Tribune stations for $3.9 billion, with that amount primarily in cash, but partially in Sinclair stock. It also planned to sell some of its stations simultaneously for around $1.5 billion, lowering the net cost of the transaction. Compare that purchase price to what ATT paid for Time Warner ($85 billion) or what Disney paid for a portion of Fox ($71 billion).

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

9. Did their check to him not clear? nt

[ChiTownDenny]

12. + 1

[BadGimp]

13. I'm NOT BUYING IT!!

I think this is cover fire for a next stage effort to approve the entire Merger.

They want to give the appearance of at least giving a shit, which we all know they don't.

Remember Net Neutrality!?!

[DoctorJoJo]

15. I'll Never Believe This Puke, Agitated Pie!

This is his prenup position showing his "concern," before rolling over and taking Sinclair money directly up his posterior!