Nexstar's planned $4.6 billion buy of Media General is on hold until the completion of the TV incentive auction, industry lawyers said in interviews Tuesday. With the auction likely proceeding to at least a second stage, it’s likely Nexstar will push the FCC to approve a waiver request (see 1606130052) that would allow the deal to be approved before the end of the auction, broadcast attorneys said. It's unclear whether the FCC would be amenable to such a request, these attorneys said. Nexstar and the agency declined to comment.
FCC General Counsel Jon Sallet, widely seen as a key deputy to Chairman Tom Wheeler, is leaving the agency for DOJ, to be replaced by Howard Symons, Incentive Auction Task Force vice chairman. Sallet had a hand in most major policy calls under Wheeler, starting with last year’s net neutrality rules, recently upheld the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, industry observers said. A former FCC legal adviser said Sallet was “instrumental in every key decision the chairman made.”
Public interest and consumer advocates seem to be firmly welcoming Hillary Clinton’s Democratic presidential bid, unfazed by past perception that she’s close with Wall Street and big business. Unlike her presumptive GOP opponent Donald Trump, she has released a tech and telecom agenda that largely heartened progressive consumer advocates, and over the past year got support from industry in the form of donations and endorsements.
Public interest and consumer advocates seem to be firmly welcoming Hillary Clinton’s Democratic presidential bid, unfazed by past perception that she’s close with Wall Street and big business. Unlike her presumptive GOP opponent Donald Trump, she has released a tech and telecom agenda that largely heartened progressive consumer advocates, and over the past year got support from industry in the form of donations and endorsements.
Opinions vary on whether a new Supreme Court ruling will affect the net neutrality case and the deference courts show regulatory agencies. Justices vacated and remanded Monday a decision of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that had deferred to the Department of Labor on regulation under the Fair Labor Standards Act dealing with overtime pay, which was challenged by an automotive dealership (Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro et al., No. 15-415). The high court found the 9th Circuit hadn't adequately required the department to justify a change in policy, particularly in light of the dealership's "significant reliance interests" on the previous policy. Telcos and cable providers also argued FCC didn't adequately justify its policy change and account for their reliance interests in reclassifying broadband from Title I to a Title II telecom service under the Communications Act.
Opinions vary on whether a new Supreme Court ruling will affect the net neutrality case and the deference courts show regulatory agencies. Justices vacated and remanded Monday a decision of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that had deferred to the Department of Labor on regulation under the Fair Labor Standards Act dealing with overtime pay, which was challenged by an automotive dealership (Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro et al., No. 15-415). The high court found the 9th Circuit hadn't adequately required the department to justify a change in policy, particularly in light of the dealership's "significant reliance interests" on the previous policy. Telcos and cable providers also argued FCC didn't adequately justify its policy change and account for their reliance interests in reclassifying broadband from Title I to a Title II telecom service under the Communications Act.
Opponents of the FCC net neutrality order face an uphill appellate battle, commission supporters told us Wednesday. A day earlier, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the order that reclassified broadband as a Title II telecom service under the Communications Act (see 1606140023). The stakeholders doubted a potential appeal to the Supreme Court would be successful and were even more dubious about the prospects of an en banc appeal to the D.C. Circuit, adding to appellate skepticism expressed by others on both sides of the battle Tuesday (see 1606140040).
Opponents of the FCC net neutrality order face an uphill appellate battle, commission supporters told us Wednesday. A day earlier, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the order that reclassified broadband as a Title II telecom service under the Communications Act (see 1606140023). The stakeholders doubted a potential appeal to the Supreme Court would be successful and were even more dubious about the prospects of an en banc appeal to the D.C. Circuit, adding to appellate skepticism expressed by others on both sides of the battle Tuesday (see 1606140040).
The FCC upcoming draft broadcast ownership quadrennial review order is expected to resurrect the commission’s vacated joint sales agreement rules and stick close to a 2014 Further NPRM on media ownership, said attorneys on both the broadcaster and public interest sides of the issues. They said in interviews this and last week that there may be some fluidity on the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule that was specifically targeted in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals majority opinion that spurred the FCC to action. The item, planned to go on circulation by June 30 (see 1605250073), is expected to contain few surprises, several attorneys told us. The FCC declined to comment Tuesday.
A court's delay in issuing a net neutrality ruling provides few hints about the outcome, those on both sides told us Friday. (The court generally issues rulings on Tuesdays and Fridays.) Several said a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is probably struggling to reconcile the complexities and some said it's likely split. But most didn't read much, if anything, about the court's leanings into the six-plus months that have passed since Dec. 4 oral argument on the various challenges to the FCC's 2015 order that reclassified broadband under Title II of the Communications Act and created net neutrality rules (see 1512040058). Lawmakers aren't too concerned, either (see 1606090064).