FCC Still Weighing Nexstar-Tribune

While the Justice Department signed off on Nexstar's purchase of Tribune in July with TV station spin-offs in 13 markets, the Federal Communications Commission has yet to complete its public interest review of the merger. Currently, the deal is on day 192 of the FCC's informal 180-day shot clock. That 180-day shot clock not an official deadline, and the FCC has occasionally gone far past it, as it did in the Nexstar-Media General merger, when it took 329 days to sign off. But in its most recent quarterly statement, Nexstar signaled to investors it was still expecting it to close in the third quarter, which would give the FCC 'til the end of Sept to make that happen.