Legislative Activity
Senators Seek Hearing on Sinclair-Tribune Merger
On June 5, a group of senators including Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Al Franken (D-MN), and Corey Booker (D-NJ) sent a letter to Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (Senate Commerce Committee) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary requesting that both committees “hold hearings to examine the proposed acquisition of Tribune Media (Tribune) by Sinclair Broadcasting (Sinclair),” which was announced in early May. The senators also requested that both committees hold hearings on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) April 2017 Order on Reconsideration (Order) in which it reinstated the “UHF discount,” which allows commercial broadcast television stations to discount the audience reach of its ultra-high frequency television stations (generally those occupying frequencies between 470 MHz and 890 MHz) when calculating compliance with the FCC’s national television ownership rule, which prohibits a single entity from owning television stations that reach more than 39% of the total television households in the country in the aggregate. In the letter, the senators stated that “Sinclair currently owns 173 stations and reaches more than 38% of the nation” while “Tribune has 42 stations . . . and reaches more than 43% of the nation.” The group then argued that the acquisition of Tribune by Sinclair would create “the largest television broadcast company in the United States.” They expressed concerns about allowing such media concentration, including its “impact on the public interest,” worrying that the merger would “harm competition.” Regarding their request for hearings on the FCC’s Order, the group noted that the Order relaxed “the limits on how many stations a TV group could own by revising how the agency calculates the audience reached by broadcasters, thereby paving the way for mergers and acquisitions that would otherwise be barred by regulators.” The group concluded by asking both committees to hold hearings “after the companies have filed the requisite paperwork” with the FCC and the Department of Justice.