Pallone, Doyle Want FCC to Explain Deal That 'Undermines' Ruling on 'Prometheus'

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., pressed the FCC to explain why it approved in September a Gray Television transaction that includes creating a new top-four combination in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They said it “undermines” the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' Prometheus IV (see 1909250064). The 2-1 3rd Circuit ruling vacated and remanded the commission's entire media ownership reconsideration order, reinstating attribution rules for joint sales agreements, the ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership, and the eight-voices test. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai vowed to appeal (see 1909230067). “In allowing this transaction to go forward, the FCC undermines the rule of law and the decision of the Third Circuit,” Pallone and Doyle wrote Pai Tuesday. “The FCC’s technical arguments about why it doesn’t have to comply with the Court’s decision seem highly suspect, at best, and an intentional flouting of the rule of law at worst.” Doyle later tweeted he finds the FCC's actions "troubling." The lawmakers want Pai to respond by Nov. 12, including on whether the FCC sought opinions of its Office of General Counsel or the 3rd Circuit on the legality of relying on remanded rules. The lawmakers want to know whether the agency is reviewing other media transactions despite the 3rd Circuit ruling. The commission didn't comment. Last week, parties to an affiliate of Apollo Global Management buying Cox and Northwest stations contended that the ruling doesn't affect that deal (see 1910180027).