FTC OK With Media General Newspaper Spinoff

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The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department have no issues with Media General's sale of its newspapers to Berkshire Hathaway, part of the company's strategy to focus on digital and broadcast content delivery.

The FTC, which divvies up antirust deal reviews with Justice, Wednesday granted the transaction early termination status, which means the FTC is done with its antitrust review and finds no reason to block the deal or seek conditions.

Media General struck the deal last month to sell most of its newspapers to the investment company for $142 million, which Media General said would help accelerate its focus on broadcast TV, including mobile DTV.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.