Chairman Rockefeller Asks FCC To Proceed With Caution on Mergers

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) told Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler he thinks the FCC should delay decisions on recent broadcast mergers -- those include Sinclair purchases, Gannett/Belo and others -- until the Government Accountability Office has completed a report on the use of shared services agreements (SSAs).

He also asked the FCC to look at use of the SSAs by those potential merged broadcast partners as it considers the deals, making sure to collect the necessary information to understand their impact on competition and consumers. Chairman Rockefeller said he was not taking a position on any of those deals in the pipeline. He wants the FCC to proceed with caution and said it "may be wise for the FCC to wait to approve any pending transaction that involves SSAs or related arrangements until GAO has completed its study and issued its report."