An FCC rejection of the Standard General/Tegna transaction would “have a chilling effect on future investment in this sector, particularly for minority owners and sources of financing,” said Standard Managing Partner Soohyung Kim Friday in a letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Warren had urged FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to block the deal in a letter last week (see 2301120044). Kim asked Warren for a meeting at her earliest convenience and pushed back on her comments that concessions offered by Standard on avoiding layoffs and higher retransmission consent rates wouldn’t be effective. “The binding commitments we have made, and some have questioned, are not deviations from our strategy -- they are formal affirmations of it,” Kim said. He also committed not to enter any sharing agreements with Cox Media Group stations. CMG is owned by Apollo Global Management, which is also a participant in the Standard/Tegna deal. Standard committed to keeping newsroom jobs while saying that blocking the deal would leave Tegna “subject to the intense pressure of the public markets to cut costs as the economy slows,” Kim said. Warren and federal regulators should take into account that the deal would make Standard the nation’s largest minority- and women-owned broadcaster, Kim said. “If that fact means nothing to regulators in their public interest assessment,” other minority entrepreneurs are less likely to enter the business, he said. “We appreciate Sen. Warren’s concerns and are confident that through our binding commitments and the fundamentals of this transaction we have more than addressed them,” said a Standard spokesperson. “We will continue to work with the FCC and DOJ as they seek to conclude their review and we look forward to building a local broadcasting company that will serve all the communities in which we will operate.”

The concessions on retransmission consent and jobs offered by Standard General are “an obvious attempt” to weaken future legal challenges to the Standard/Tegna deal, and the FCC should block it, said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in a letter to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Wednesday. Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Frank Pallone, D-N.J., have also weighed in against Standard/Tegna (see 2210060033). “Behavioral remedies like those offered by the parties are historically ineffective” and “should provide no comfort that these Wall Street firms will not engage in anticompetitive practices,” Warren said. Such remedies were the rationale for a federal court ruling that the T-Mobile/Sprint transaction didn’t violate antitrust laws, but they didn’t prevent T-Mobile from taking anticompetitive actions against Dish after the deal was complete, Warren said. “It will be similarly challenging for the FCC to monitor the parties in this transaction and ensure that they are complying with any required remedies,” Warren said. The deal would lead to higher retransmission consent costs being passed on to consumers, layoffs and collusion, Warren said. Citing a quote from FTC Chair Kahn urging agencies to block problematic deals outright, Warren urged Rosenworcel to use the FCC’s authority “aggressively in this matter and in other matters going forward.” Standard General didn't comment.

The FCC should renew the license of Snake River Radio’s KPCQ(AM) Chubbuck, Idaho, for a shortened term rather than take the station’s license over its period of silence (see 2212130058), said Snake River’s reply submission Wednesday in docket 22-53, the station’s license proceeding before FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin. The station’s conflicting submissions about whether its tower had been dismantled stem from a misunderstanding in a single email to the agency from Snake River’s attorney Jeffrey Timmons, the broadcaster said. Its subsequent communications demonstrated that the tower was still standing, the reply filing said. “In hindsight, of course, Snake River wishes that it had explained the differences at that time,” said the filing. “But the fact is that Snake River has explained that discrepancy now, as supported by the August 5, 2018 email which demonstrates that it was just a drafting error by counsel.” The public interest wouldn't be served by taking the station’s license “as that would discourage parties from investing the effort and substantial funds risked to try to save a failing station,” the filing said. “The Commission should encourage -- rather than punish -- entrepreneurs willing to take the risks and invest both the time and funds necessary to try to save failing stations.”

The FCC Media Bureau seeks comment in docket 23-14 on Blue Ridge Public Television’s channel substitution request for WBRA-TV Roanoke, Virginia, said an NPRM in Wednesday's Daily Digest. Blue Ridge wants to shift the station from Channel *3 to *13. Comments will be due 30 days after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register, replies 45 days after publication.

The Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector, known as Team Telecom, is reviewing a foreign ownership request involving a number of TV and radio stations in Puerto Rico, said a DOJ letter in docket 23-2. The letter concerns a petition for declaratory ruling from Searchlight II HMT (see 2301040065) seeking permission for its parent company, Hemisphere Media Group, to be up to 100% foreign owned. That request is connected with pending broadcast station transactions at the FCC involving Searchlight subsidiary Televicentro of Puerto Rico and Univision. The deal would lead to the stations being controlled by “certain Searchlight investment fund entities organized in the Cayman Islands that are ultimately controlled by foreign individuals.” The FCC will be notified when responses to Team Telecom’s initial request for information are complete and the 120-day initial review period can begin, the letter said.

Discovery in the hearing proceeding for AM broadcaster Arm & Rage was extended to March 31, in an order from FCC Administrative Law Judge Jane Halprin Monday in docket 22-122 (see 2301060061). Discovery had been set to end Jan.18, but the Enforcement Bureau requested an extension due to a technology issue and the large number of documents involved. Arm & Rage didn’t object to the request. With the extension, the EB’s affirmative case will be due May 15, the broadcaster’s response June 12, the EB’s reply July 10, and requests for an oral hearing July 24.

The FCC Media Bureau extended filing deadlines for documents to be uploaded to broadcast, cable and satellite online public inspection files due to technical issues, said a public notice in Monday’s Daily Digest. “All documents that were due to be placed in an entities OPIF since January 1, 2023, must be filed no later than January 31, 2023," said the public notice. Stations and lawyers uploading documents to the system have experienced difficulties doing so since Jan. 1, said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Kathleen Victory in an interview. Documents didn’t show as having been uploaded or would appear to have uploaded and then vanish, she said. Before the extension, Q4 issues/program lists were due from almost all broadcasters Tuesday. Missing those deadlines or deadlines for political ad filings often leads to enforcement actions, Victory said. “The Online Public Inspection File experienced intermittent operation last week,” emailed an FCC spokesperson. The system was upgraded Friday to address the issue, the spokesperson said. “Our testing indicates the upgrade addressed the problem, but we will continue to monitor the system and address any new issues that arise.”

The FCC Media Bureau granted two channel substitution requests, said orders in Monday’s Daily Digest. Gray Television’s WMC-TV Memphis will shift from Channel 5 to 30, and RNN Boston License’s WWDP Norwell, Massachusetts, will move from 10 to 36, the orders said.

The FCC Enforcement Bureau requested additional time to review discovery for the hearing proceeding for broadcaster Arm & Rage (see 2206170063) due to a technical issue with some of the filings and the large amount of documents involved, said a filing posted Friday in docket 22-122. Arm & Rage doesn’t oppose the extension, the filing said. The EB wants the close of discovery moved from Jan. 18 to March 31. Arm & Rage's Joseph Armstrong, owner of WJBE (AM) Powell, Tennessee, was convicted of making a false statement on a 2008 tax form.

Searchlight II HMT filed a petition for declaratory ruling seeking permission for its parent company, Hemisphere Media Group, to be up to 100% foreign owned, said a public notice Wednesday. The request is connected with pending broadcast station transactions at the FCC involving Searchlight subsidiary Televicentro of Puerto Rico and Univision, that would lead to the stations being controlled by “certain Searchlight investment fund entities organized in the Cayman Islands that are ultimately controlled by foreign individuals.” Comments on the petition are due Feb. 3, replies Feb. 21.