Standard General, trying to win approval for its acquisition of Tegna, told the Federal Communications Commission that retransmission negotiations between Dish and Cox Media Group won’t affect the stations Standard General owns if the transaction is completed.
Dish charged that CMG is attempting to include some Tegna stations in its current retransmission talks, which have resulted in a blackout.
CMG is controlled by Apollo Global Management, which is partially financing Standard General's bid for Tegna. CMG will own some current Tegna stations as part of the deal.
The unions opposing Standard General’s acquisition of Tegna cited Dish’s claim in a petition to the FCC.
CMG demanded Dish retract its false statements.
"The regulatory authorities have expressed concerns to us that our transaction could result in negative impacts on cable and satellite TV consumers in an environment where the government has a heightened focus on inflation," Standard General said in a statement. "To address these concerns in a manner consistent with our obligations under our merger agreement, we have committed to waive certain contractual rights we would have had as a result of the transaction. This commitment further demonstrates the public interest benefits of the transaction."
In a letter to the FCC, Standard General founder Soohyung Kim spelled out the rights Standard General is waiving.
Kim noted that the impact the acquisition would have on "retransmission consent fees payable by multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) is not central to Standard General’s thesis for the proposed Transactions."
"In light of the cost of continued delay to the closing of the Transactions (the
"Closing"), consistent with the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated February 22, 2022, Standard General was making some commitments regarding retransmission arrangements," he said.
Kim said negotiations between Cox and MVPDs would not apply to any current Tegna station that would be controlled by Standard General post closing. And he said that any retransmission consent agreement with Tegna would continue to apply to the Tegna stations following the closing.
"We continue to be excited about the bright future we see for Tegna under our leadership. We look forward to continue working collaboratively with regulators to complete their review of the proposed transaction and proceed to closing," Standard General said. ■
