Enforcement Bureau Says Standard/Tegna Filing Should Be Tossed Out
The Standard General/Tegna broadcasters’ filings urging an FCC vote on the deal blatantly disregard all the procedural boundaries in the agency’s rules and should be stricken from the record, said the Enforcement Bureau Thursday and Friday in a motion to…
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strike, a motion opposing the broadcaster waiver request, and a filing on confidential documents in docket 22-162. The filings raise similar arguments to those made by unions last week (see 2303220072). Broadcast industry officials told us they don’t expect the FCC take up the broadcaster appeal, and court filings are likely this week. Though the FCC administrative law judge’s decision on a motion to certify is unappealable according to agency rules, the broadcasters asked the FCC to “simply conclude that this rule does not apply to them,” the EB said Thursday. The broadcaster insistence the FCC must rule on the deal by Monday or face a court challenge isn’t backed up by precedent and would deny other parties in the proceeding due process by not allowing them time for a response, the EB said. “It is striking that, after complaining the Commission has denied them due process, Applicants seem to have no issue with denying due process to the other parties named in the hearing,” the EB filings said. The broadcaster application for review should also be rejected because it ignored the five-page limit on such documents specifically laid out in the regulations, the EB said. The broadcasters asked for a waiver of that requirement, then filed their 25-page AFR. “There is nothing in the Rules that legitimizes a pleading that exceeds the page limits simply because a party has requested a waiver of that limit,” the EB said. The bureau also took issue with Standard’s request the FCC not share confidential filings in the proceeding with new attorneys for Communications Workers of America's NewsGuild and the National Association of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians sectors. Both Standard’s request to block the document sharing and the attorney requests for access were premature, the EB said. Standard is incorrect in its arguments access isn’t needed because the hearing is likely to be either blocked by legal action or mooted when the deal collapses, said the bureau. The “mere filing” of pleadings with the FCC or courts “does not suspend the hearing proceeding,” the EB said. “The obligations of any of the parties -- including Applicants -- to participate in that proceeding remain on-going.” Standard didn’t comment.