Four Attorneys General Ask FCC To Deny Sinclair/Tribune Merger

Attorneys general from IL, MD, MA, and RI have teamed up to ask the Federal Communications Commission to block the merger of Sinclair and Tribune. The joint filing comes at the same time the Coalition to Save Local Media was urging all the state AG's to weigh in against the deal. The AGs principal beef appears to be the size of the deal, which would create the largest TV station group in the country reaching over 70% of the national audience. Saying they are the chief consumer protection officers in their states, the AGs argue that the deal "fails to further the public interest by allowing for increased consolidation that will decrease consumer choices and voices in the marketplace." Because the deal will reduce consumer choices and threatens the "diversity of voices," they say, the FCC should block it, or at the least postpone a decision until the US Court of Appeals rules on Free Press's legal challenge to the FCC's reinstatement of the UHF discount. The AGs say they are looking out for consumers and that the deal will exacerbate problems they already see through thousands of complaints about video, internet and telecommunications services, including allegations of high prices and poor service.