Standard/Tegna Lobby FCC in 'Highly Unusual' Meeting

Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel didn’t respond to requests for a meeting from the broadcasters, and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks declined the meeting, said Standard General. An FCC spokesperson told us May 8 that Standard’s request for a meeting with the Democratic commissioners was under legal review. “The Office of General Counsel apparently advised at least one commissioner against holding such a meeting,” said the joint ex parte filing from Communications Workers of America’s NewsGuild and National Alliance of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians sectors, the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, and Common Cause. The opposition groups also called last week's meetings “highly unusual, bordering on improper.” “Applicants would welcome the opportunity to meet with the Chairwoman and Commissioner Starks in the same format as the May 10 meetings,” said the broadcaster ex parte filing. “However, the Chairwoman and Commissioner Starks have refused to meet to discuss any of the solutions Applicants have put forth to resolve the issues raised in the HDO.”

Since the deal was designated for hearing, the only related matter currently before the FCC is the Standard/Tegna request for a waiver of the FCC rules on certifying an application for review of an HDO, said the Enforcement Bureau.

In the meeting, the broadcasters unveiled a new concession: Leibowitz said Standard offered to commit to buying Apollo Global Media’s shares in the new Tegna by the third anniversary of the deal’s closing if the Apollo-owned Cox Media Group at that time still has stations in overlapping markets with Tegna. “Standard General would be willing to make that same commitment to the Commission if the Commission found that helpful to its decision,” said the Standard ex parte filing. Opponents said in their filing they haven’t seen any written explanation of that proposal. “The proper means to introduce such changes into the record would be to amend the applications, and that such amendments might be major amendments which would trigger a mandatory 30 day comment period,” said the joint filing from the unions and public interest groups.

The Enforcement Bureau said the parties -- the broadcasters, deal opponents and the EB -- are allowed to negotiate a settlement while the hearing proceeding is ongoing but only for the matters before the administrative law judge, which doesn’t include the agreement's final disposition. That makes such a settlement an unlikely route for the matter’s resolution, attorneys told us. For such negotiations to happen, the broadcasters would have to cease opposing access to confidential information for the union’s trial attorney and turn over additional evidence, the EB said. A protective order would need to be issued to give the EB and ALJ access to the confidential information in the case, said the union and public interest filing.

In the meeting, Tegna CEO Dave Lougee -- a former opponent of Standard Managing Partner Soohyung Kim (see 2105060069) -- urged the FCC to vote for the deal because as a public company, Tegna couldn’t match Standard’s “extraordinary” commitments to preserving newsroom jobs, said the broadcaster ex parte. During an unsuccessful 2021 proxy fight for control of Tegna’s board, Standard criticized Lougee’s salary, commissioned a diversity report alleging widespread discrimination at Tegna under his leadership, and surfaced an allegation involving a racially tinged incident between Lougee and former FCC aide Adonis Hoffman -- who has also been advocating for the Standard/Tegna deal (see 2305080062). In the meeting, Clyburn -- who was at the FCC with Carr and Rosenworcel -- “emphasized the challenges the Commission has faced over the years in trying, unsuccessfully, to meaningfully increase broadcast ownership diversity.”

Along with Clyburn, Hoffman and Leibowitz, Democratic National Committee Senior Adviser Cedric Richmond and former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly have advocated for the transaction. Standard didn’t comment on whether they were compensated for their advocacy. Leibowitz advised Standard on the DOJ side of the transaction process, and Clyburn was also an adviser on the deal. “I am an outside adviser to a consulting firm that counts Standard General as a client (in the transaction review process),” Clyburn emailed. “I have known (of) Soo for quite some time and am here because I believe in his efforts to create a more diverse and inclusive media landscape.” "I do not lobby Congress, the FCC or Executive Branch on anything, nor do I file comments, take meetings, coffee or lunch with any Executive, FCC or Hill officials, so in that sense, I am not working as an advocate although I certainly support the transaction as a former FCC [legal aide]," said Hoffman. O’Rielly and Richmond didn’t comment.

Before the Standard/Tegna HDO, the Media Bureau had never on its own authority designated for hearing a deal involving the sale of even one TV station and only a few radio deals, said the Standard ex parte filing. “The largest broadcast station sale the Media Bureau had ever been permitted to designate for hearing was 0.03% of the value of the TEGNA transaction,” said the filing. “The TEGNA transactions have been treated by both the Media Bureau and the petitioners like no prior rule-conforming transaction, violating the requirement that similarly-situated applicants be treated equally,” said the Standard filing.