Judges Skeptical of FCC in Case Related to Sinclair's Deal

The Federal Communications Commission faced skeptical questioning from judges about a rule change that made way for Sinclair Broadcast Group’s proposed acquisition of Tribune Media, raising the possibility of turmoil for the $3.9 billion deal.  Judges at the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, hearing a challenge April 20 to the change, questioned why the FCC had reinstated a rule allowing owners of some TV stations to count just part of their audience when tallying holdings against a national limit of 39 percent. The issue is important to Sinclair’s proposed purchase of Tribune, which would leave it covering 72 percent of U.S. households -- or about 45 percent when counting half the audience as allowed under the embattled rule.

One judge on the three-judge panel likened the FCC’s continuing the audience-counting discount, which is based on limitations from an obsolete broadcast technology, to keeping a moribund body on life support. Most signs point to an FCC loss in the case, possibly a unanimous one, which sets up a race for Sinclair to close before the decision comes out.