Media Bureau Approves Gray/Schurz

The FCC Media Bureau approved Gray Television's $442.5 million buy of Schurz's stations, and some related waivers of the duopoly rule, said a letter posted online Friday. Gray had asked the bureau to allow an existing joint sales agreement involving a Wichita, Kansas, Schurz station to be grandfathered until 2025 as though it hadn't been transferred. The bureau denied that request as not being in the public interest. Instead, Gray has one year to unwind the JSA. The bureau did allow Gray to hold onto a duopoly of stations in Augusta, Georgia, with the condition that Gray must sell WAGT Augusta if its license isn't surrendered in the incentive auction. The bureau also granted a waiver to allow Gray to own two stations in the Cheyenne-Scottsbluff market in Nebraska, while one undergoes a community of license change proceeding to be moved into the Denver market. The bureau also granted a failing station waiver and a satellite exception.