January 2019

Department of Justice antitrust chief Makan Delrahim says that the DOJ will be holding a two-day workshop on the impact of online advertising on the local broadcast TV market, and whether it should adjust its merger reviews given the argument that the edge is now competing for the local car dealer ads and should be considered part of the relevant competitive market. Justice has been considering the issue in relation to a couple of recent merger reviews, Delrahim pointed out, specifically the aborted Sinclair-Tribune merger, and the follow-up Nexstar-Tribune merger.

New House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) said that network neutrality will be the subject of the first subcommittee hearing under his chairmanship. In a speech to the State of the Net conference in Washington, Chairman Doyle called network neutrality one of the preeminent digital rights issues and said he plans to continue to fight to restore the rules.