FCC wants to know if changes Pai pushed aided Sinclair-Tribune merger


Last April, the Federal Communications Commission, led by its Trump-appointed chairman Ajit Pai, eliminated a restriction that had capped how many stations media companies could own. Weeks later, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced a long-suspected deal to acquire Tribune Media for $3.9 billion. Anyone finding that timing suspicious wouldn't be alone: For two months, the FCC's internal watchdog has been investigating whether Pai and his aides improperly pushed to change the rules and timed it to help Sinclair, Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) confirmed to The New York Times.

The extent of the investigation is unclear, as is whatever could result. The office of the FCC's nonpartisan inspector general didn't comment on "the existence or the nonexistence of an investigation" to The New York Times. In addition to Pallone, two aides to Democratic lawmakers confirmed the investigation on condition of anonymity.

The merger would've been subject to rules repealed last April, which prevented one company from owning stations that captured more than 39 percent of US households -- aimed at preventing monopolies on markets. The Sinclair deal adds Tribune's 42 American TV stations to the conglomerate's 173, which would reportedly reach 72 percent of the country. While Sinclair currently plans to divest some of those to comply with remaining FCC rules, though it will likely have to part with fewer after chairman Pai trimmed regulations even more in November.

The FCC's investigation is supposedly looking into whether Pai eased the rules explicitly to pave the way for Sinclair's ambitions. According to a New York Times investigation published last August, the chairman of Sinclair met with Pai days before he was named FCC commissioner in January 2017 -- reportedly, the former requested the latter reduce crackdowns on media consolidation. Soon after, Pai eased the first of what would be many regulations affecting ad revenue and growth limits for media companies.

It's worth pointing out that Sinclair pursues an authoritarian stance with its stations, forcing them to air right-leaning content, often in the middle of their their local news segments to lend them legitimacy. In fact, John Oliver devoted an entire episode of his show Last Week Tonight to explaining its market dominance and agenda:

Source: The New York Times

via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2EtXDi2"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evernote cuts staff as user growth stalls

Image
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to...
Read more

The best air conditioner

Image
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic...
Read more

We won't see a 'universal' vape oil cartridge anytime soon

Image
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs? ...
Read more