D.C. Memo: DIRECTV Wants Scripps-INYO TV Deal Blocked over 39% Cap Violation
Locking arms with six state cable trade associations, the satellite TV operator says Scripps would reach 40.29% of U.S. TV households, even after applying the UHF discount
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FCC: DIRECTV and six cable trade groups are urging the FCC to reject Scripps’ bid to reacquire 23 TV stations, arguing the deal would push the company past a ownership cap set by Congress. The same coalition is battling the FCC’s decision by the Media Bureau to approve the Nexstar-TEGNA merger on March 19 with inclusion of a waiver from the cap. Scripps is seeking approval to buy TV licenses from INYO Broadcast Holdings and reclaim stations its ION subsidiary was required to divest in 2021. The move would give Scripps reach into 40.29% of U.S. TV households, even after applying the UHF discount — above the FCC’s 39% national cap. The deal “would give Scripps its first station in nine local markets, create new duopolies in four local markets, and (assuming approval of a separate transaction) create new triopolies in eight local markets,” DIRECTV counsel Michael Nilsson wrote in a May 18 filing with the FCC. (More after paywall)
