Another Set Back in the Tegna Deal

Standard General’s bid to acquire Tegna has been dealt a significant blow, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has denied its petition to force the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to vote on the proposed acquisition before financing expires on May 22. Tegna is the owner of 64 TV stations across 51 U.S. markets, as well as advanced advertising firm Premion and multicast networks True Crime Network, Twist and Quest.

The acquisition was agreed upon in February 2022, and the FCC’s review has extended for over a year. On February 24, the bureau overseeing the transaction designated it to be reviewed by an administrative law judge, a process likely to take several more months. Standard General has argued that this decision is unconstitutional and kills the deal without the FCC ruling on the transfer of the Tegna station license.

The D.C. Circuit ruled that Standard General had not demonstrated that the FCC had unreasonably delayed in acting on its applications and had not shown that the FCC had a “crystal clear” duty to rule on the application without resorting to a hearing. Observers have speculated that this ruling will result in the deal’s collapse.