Diversity of Anti-Sinclair/Tribune Group Seen Adding Weight to Opposition

By combining companies and associations with more expected merger opponents like Public Knowledge, the new Coalition to Save Local Media may succeed in blocking the Sinclair/Tribune deal at an FCC widely seen as likely to approve Sinclair's Tribune buy, public interest and broadcast industry attorneys told us Tuesday.

With groups such as the Computer and Communications Industry Association and ITTA involved, the eventual direction of an FCC perceived as friendly to industry isn’t as clear cut, said Angela Campbell, director of Georgetown's Institute for Public Representation’s Communications and Technology Clinic. “That there is such strong opposition to the Tribune/Sinclair transaction should send a clear signal to the FCC and the Department of Justice that this transaction should be denied,” said Competitive Carriers Association President Steven Berry in a news release.

Composed largely of entities that had already declared opposition to the deal, what had been billed as an “informal coalition” (see 1708080067) announced a more formal structure Tuesday. It includes the American Cable Association, NTCA, Dish Network, Common Cause and the Latino Victory Project, programmers Cinemoi, A Wealth of Entertainment channel, One America News Network, Ride TV and the Blaze, and the Sports Fan Coalition. The coalition is "nonpartisan and includes members on both sides of the aisle. Notably, the coalition includes members that have previously been on opposite sides of regulatory fights,” the group said.

The wide range of the group’s membership speaks to the undesirability of Sinclair/Tribune, Public Knowledge Policy Fellow Yosef Getachew told us. Though many members participated in an announcement before the group was formally created, banding together as a formal coalition allows them to coordinate their efforts and underscores the depth of their opposition to the deal, Getachew said. Sinclair and the FCC declined to comment.

The deal is still expected to be approved, but inclusion of the wireless industry groups is likely to draw attention from the FCC to the coalition’s points, a broadcast lawyer said. ITTA, CCIA and CCA said their opposition is based in part on concerns that the new Sinclair would use its increased breadth to obstruct the post-incentive auction repacking, slowing the clearing of wireless spectrum. That’s a new argument, and the FCC is going to have to examine it more carefully than retread arguments about retransmission consent rates and localism, the broadcast expert said.

The industry groups will “add more weight” to the concerns of public interest groups, Campbell said. Since FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly are perceived as pro-industry, the objections of the trade groups and companies make it less clear how the proceeding will play out, she said. A similarly broad coalition of groups was able to derail the Comcast/Time Warner Cable, Getachew said.

Oppositions to petitions to deny Sinclair/Tribune are due Aug. 22.