Standard General Executives Meet With Rosenworcel, Commissioners

Standard General founder Soohyung Kim and CEO Deborah McDermott met with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington, and Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer last week to push for approval of the company’s proposed buy of Tegna, said an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 22-162. “There is nothing in the record that would justify failure to promptly approve the transaction,” said the filing. Meanwhile, the Communications Workers of America's NewsGuild and National Association of Broadcast Engineers and Technicians sectors repeated their calls for a hearing in their own ex parte filing. Differences in interpretation between the unions and the broadcasters over Standard’s presentations to lenders “is precisely the kind of substantial and material question of fact that should be designated for a hearing,” said the unions. Documents submitted into the record by the broadcasters “only seem to confirm” the unions’ arguments “that post-closing, station-level job cuts are an integral feature of the proposed transaction, and that the Applicants have not been forthcoming about their intentions,” said the CWA groups. “Mr. Kim and Ms. McDermott reiterated that they place a high value on local news operations and staff and that they have no intention of reducing either following the transaction,” said Standard’s filing.