Appeals Court Delays Hearing Tribune’s Waiver Challenge

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided to put off hearing Tribune's challenge of the Federal Communications Commission's decision to grant it waivers to complete the deal to sell the company to investor Sam Zell and Tribune employees. Tribune asked the commission for indefinite waivers and instead got two-year waivers, or six months after the end of any litigation over the waivers. At the time, FCC Democrats saw that as giving Tribune an invitation to take the entire rule to court, which it proceeded to do only days later. On Wednesday, the court decided to hold off on hearing the Tribune challenge, or a motion by media activists to dismiss, until the FCC rules on a petition by those activists -- which include the United Church of Christ and Media Alliance -- to reconsider its decision to approve the deal. The court told the commission to provide a status report on its reconsideration within 60 days.
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