In response to questions about Standard General’s intention as it looks to complete its acquisition of Tegna, Standard Media CEO Deb McDermott declared that her company did not intend to reduce station level staffing and news staffing following the transaction.
Standard General agreed to acquire Tegna in February in an $8.6 billion deal, including the assumption of $3.2 billion in debt. The deal is being partly financed by Apollo Global Management, which controls Cox Media Group, which will own some of the Tegna stations if the deal is approved.
In a letter to Tegna employees, McDermott said “to the contrary, we expect to compete vigorously in all markets, which will require continued investment in local journalism and newsgathering operations.”
McDermott pointed to her track record at Standard General and at the other broadcast companies she ran.
Also: Standard General Says Change Will Be Good for Tegna
“At each of these groups, we improved performance by investing in local journalism and local content” she said, noting that Standard General founder Soohyung Kim invested $25 million in its 10 TV markets over 18 months.
She pointed to WFLA-TV in Tampa, which declined when owned by Media General and increased its staff by 28% after it was controlled by Standard Media.
“While I will have much more to share with you in the future about our post-closing plans, I wanted you to hear these points from me and reiterate our commitment to building on the many successes you have already achieved,” she said.
Critics of the deal have told the FCC it needs to collect more data on the proposed merger before approving it. Those critics including the NewsGuild-CWA union, Public Knowledge and Common Cause.
Standard General also sent responses to questions to the FCC, which mirrored some of the public skepticism about the deal raised by the NewsGuild and other groups.
In a letter dated June 13, Standard General, Tegna, Apollo Global Management and Cox Media Group said that there were no plans to have the Standard Media and CMG station coordinate their retransmission negotiations with cable operators.
They also said they’ve made no shared management agreements between the station groups.
In response to a question about how the deal would be in the public interest, the companies responded that the transaction would create the largest minority-owned and female-led TV broadcasting company in U.S. history. “That would further the commission’s goal of increasing diversity in broadcast station ownership and management,” they said.
Standard General also reiterated that it did not plan to cut staff and newsroom staff in particular at the Tegna stations. ■
