NAB Files Amicus in Standard/Tegna Case

NAB filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit calling on the court to treat the Standard/Tegna hearing designation order as a final action and calling the order a threat to the broadcast industry. “This Court should treat this order according to its intent and effect -- a de facto final denial of the license application -- and hear the appeal,” NAB said in the brief filed late Thursday. The trade group also filed a motion seeking permission to file the amicus brief. The FCC Media Bureau’s action “on gossamer evidence” injects “untenable unpredictability into license transfer applications,” the trade group said. NAB has historically held back from weighing in on specific deals, but CEO Curtis LeGeyt vocally condemned the HDO earlier this month.“We urge the court to correct this egregious misstep by the FCC," said LeGeyt in a release Thursday. "Unappointed FCC staff have sent this proposed deal to regulatory purgatory, depriving the Commissioners the opportunity to participate in decisions that carry significant implications for broadcast stations and their viewers and listeners." “Public interest review is not a mechanism for regulating licensee business contracts and employment practices,” the filing said. The Media Bureau’s “significant departure” from FCC precedent “means in practice that no party contemplating an investment in broadcast stations can, with any certainty, predict how the FCC will process its license transfer,” NAB said. “The broadcast industry cannot tolerate this kind of unpredictability.”