The U.S. Dist. Court, Conn., ruling that The Tribune Company was ...

much more colorful claims,” he said. An FCC source said it was too soon to determine how the ruling would possibly affect other broadcasters who seek waivers to the media ownership rules. The ruling that the Tribune divest its WTXX (WB) Waterbury, Conn., station was “wrong and seriously flawed,” the Tribune said in a statement late Mon. The Tribune, which also owns WTIC (Fox) in the same market, purchased The Hartford Courant in 2000, putting it in violation of the FCC’s newspaper- broadcast cross-ownership ban. Since then, the Tribune was granted two 6-month waivers to divest WTXX. The Tribune then sought a permanent waiver. Schwartzman said the Tribune didn’t show that it was working to sell the station but was merely waiting for the courts to rule on the FCC’s media ownership rules. The Tribune argued that the district court judge reached his decision by applying FCC rules that are currently on remand from the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia. The Tribune, which is appealing the ruling, said nothing in the court’s decision “changes our view on the likelihood of cross-ownership relief. We continue to believe the rule will be relaxed and all Tribune markets will be in compliance without required divestitures.”