Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., wants the FCC to address “very...
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., wants the FCC to address “very serious allegations” leveled by DirecTV in a since-settled retransmission consent dispute with Tribune that the broadcaster’s investors overruled its management on not initially renewing the retrans deal (CD April 3…
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p1). “As the Tribune bankruptcy nears a resolution, the Commission must thoroughly review the public interest implications before considering a transfer of both Tribune’s media licenses and waivers to an unknown facility that Tribune’s creditors will create to hold the licenses,” Waters wrote FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. The Media Bureau has “taken several steps to invite and facilitate public participation in the Tribune proceeding” and got a “broad range of petitions and public comments” and “held a number of meetings with interested parties,” he replied. “Your concerns will be considered carefully as part of the record when the Commission moves forward with its evaluation of the Tribune applications.” Genachowski’s June 5 reply to the April 17 letter from Waters, who criticized Tribune and other media companies before, was posted Thursday in docket 12-2 (http://xrl.us/bnbvkr). She said the agency should find “whether it generally serves the public interest to allow non-banking financial institutions to seamlessly acquire FCC licenses -- and cross-ownership waivers -- through private entities they create for no other purpose than to hold the licenses until such time when the facility can be sold to another firm.” Tribune had no comment.