Sinclair Broadcast Group filed documents with the Federal Communications Commission withdrawing its applications to acquire Tribune Media and asking the agency to cancel hearings set to discuss the merger. Sinclair asked that its applications to acquire Tribune be withdrawn with prejudice and requested that the chief administrative law judge terminate a hearing that was to look into possible sham transactions associated with the approval process.
Although the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act of 2018 (RAY BAUM’S Act of 2018) amends section 13 of the Communications Act of 1934, and requires the Federal Communications Commission, “in the last quarter of every even numbered year” to publish a “Communications Marketplace Report,” that, among other things, “assess[es] the state of deployment of communications capabilities, including advanced telecommunications capability (as defined in section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C.
Tribune Media said in court filings that its merger path over the past 12 months with Sinclair Broadcast Group was bloodied not by regulatory pressure but by its partner's hubris, and is seeking $1 billion in damages to help heal its wounds. Tribune said Sinclair repeatedly failed to disclose key information to tribune and regulators, a practice which helped torpedo the deal. According to the suit, the deal would have likely been approved months ago if Sinclair had only agreed to divest of stations in 10 overlap markets earmarked by the Department of Justice and presented clean station sale
At the DeWitt Wallace Center’s News Measures Research Project, we set out to document the extent to which communities have access to robust local journalism and determine whether certain types of communities are more at risk than others. We studied 100 US communities and found:
The Federal Communications Commission solicits nominations for membership on a new Disaster Response and Recovery Working Group of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC). This new working group will assist the BDAC in providing advice and recommendations to the FCC on steps that can be taken to improve disaster preparation, response, and recovery for broadband infrastructure.
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