Ownership

Sinclair Broadcast Group filed documents with the Federal Communications Commission withdrawing its applications to acquire Tribune Media and asking the agency to cancel hearings set to discuss the merger. Sinclair asked that its applications to acquire Tribune be withdrawn with prejudice and requested that the chief administrative law judge terminate a hearing that was to look into possible sham transactions associated with the approval process. 

Tribune Media said in court filings that its merger path over the past 12 months with Sinclair Broadcast Group was bloodied not by regulatory pressure but by its partner's hubris, and is seeking $1 billion in damages to help heal its wounds. Tribune said Sinclair repeatedly failed to disclose key information to tribune and regulators, a practice which helped torpedo the deal. According to the suit, the deal would have likely been approved months ago if Sinclair had only agreed to divest of stations in 10 overlap markets earmarked by the Department of Justice and presented clean station sale

Today is a good day for every American who believes that diversity of voices in the media is better for our democracy. The combination of Sinclair and Tribune would have created a media mega-monster that would have put far too much power over local news and information in the hands of one company.

To its credit, CBS News has not shied away from reporting on its own top executives who stand accused of committing acts of sexual harassment and tolerating a culture of inappropriate sexual behavior -- most notably within the CBS News division. Stories seen since the end of July on various CBS News programs have not evaded the key issues or, more importantly, the details of the accusations leveled by women who told their stories to the New Yorker's Ronan Farrow.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) sent a letter to the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission highlighting testimony presented at the June 27, 2018 hearing on the proposed T-Mobile US and Sprint merger. The letter draws the agencies’ attention to important issues raised by witnesses appearing at the hearing, including the resulting increase in market concentration in the wireless telecommunications industry, and the potential for the merger to create a more competitive wireless carrier.

Tribune Media will withdraw from its $3.9 billion merger with Sinclair Broadcast Group, saying it would sue Sinclair for “breach of contract” over its failed negotiations with regulators over the deal. “In light of the FCC’s unanimous decision, referring the issue of Sinclair’s conduct for a hearing before an administrative law judge, our merger cannot be completed within an acceptable time frame, if ever,” said Peter Kern, Tribune’s chief executive officer. “This uncertainty and delay would be detrimental to our company and our shareholders.

Reps Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Mike Doyle (D-PA) asked the Federal Communications Commission to investigate whether Sinclair Broadcast Group broke laws by allegedly influencing ad sales at rival Tribune Media, another potential setback in the TV station owners’ effort to merge.

Apple, Google and Facebook erased from their services many — but not all — videos, podcasts and posts from the right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars site. And Twitter left Jones’s posts untouched. The differing approaches to Jones exposed how unevenly tech companies enforce their rules on hate speech and offensive content. There are only a few cases in which the companies appear to consistently apply their policies, such as their ban on child pornography and instances in which the law required them to remove content, like Nazi imagery in Germany.

The Department of Justice believes three national 5G wireless providers are needed to ensure robust competition, a position that provides a big boost to the proposed $26.5 billion merger of Sprint and T-Mobile. The No. 3 and No. 4 wireless carriers have said they don’t have the finances independently to quickly bankroll an expensive rollout of the next generation in wireless technology — leaving just Verizon and AT&T to offer a 5G network.

The Justice Department argued that US District Judge Richard Leon ignored “fundamental principles of economics and common sense” when he allowed AT&T to acquire Time Warner. The department’s appellate brief, filed with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, argued Judge Leon’s ruling was “clearly erroneous in light of the evidence presented at trial.” The government brief argued Judge Leon’s contrary conclusion came about because he “discarded the economics of bargaining” and failed to apply “the foundational principle” that corporations will aim to maximize their