The Coalition to Save Local Media released the following statement following today’s arguments at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit:
“Today’s argument raises a major red flag at the FCC for the Sinclair-Tribune merger. It’s clear the only way the Sinclair merger could possibly gain approval is by utilizing an irrelevant, unjustified and outdated UHF discount as a loophole. Based on today’s argument at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the FCC’s reinstatement of the obsolete UHF discount may be completely gutted.
“Before the FCC takes any action on the Sinclair-Tribune deal, media ownership rules should be resolved by the FCC and the courts. If the FCC approves Sinclair-Tribune now, how could it possibly unscramble the eggs if the D.C. Circuit vacates the FCC’s Order on UHF discount in the next few months?
“This merger needs to be denied—it’s not in the interest of consumers and will hurt local media across the country.”