D.C. Circuit Denies Standard/Tegna Mandamus

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the petition for writ of mandamus from Standard General, Cox Media Group and Tegna in an unpublished order Friday morning in docket 23-1084. The ruling by Judges Cornelia Pillard, Michelle Childs and Florence Pan contains few details. "Petitioners have not demonstrated that respondent has unreasonably delayed in acting on their applications," said the ruling. "Nor have they shown that respondent has a 'crystal clear' duty to rule on their applications without resort to a hearing." The ruling means the FCC’s proceeding will continue and will almost certainly extend beyond the May 22 deadline at which the deal’s financing expires, potentially ending the Standard/Tegna transaction. Standard has called for the FCC’s commissioners to force a vote on the transaction, but that is widely seen as unlikely to happen. Standard General and the FCC didn’t immediately comment.