Nexstar Pushes for Waiver of Auction Rules So Buy of Media General Can be OK'd

that the 'quiet period' and the corresponding prohibition on major ownership changes for stations subject to an Incentive Auction application would last 'only a matter of months,'” Nexstar said in a supplementary filing on the waiver: “More than eight months have passed since the commencement of the Incentive Auction quiet period and the prohibition on major ownership changes, and the Incentive Auction has now entered a second stage with no definitive end date in sight.” Nexstar initially requested the waiver in February when it filed the Media General application too late to have it approved before the auction began, but the broadcaster remained silent on the waiver until its new supplementary filing. DOJ has given its nod to the deal, the FCC's 180-day shot clock has expired, and the time period for petitions to deny the transaction has passed, Nexstar said. “The FCC now stands as the only obstacle to closing, and the Applications are ripe for grant.” Attorneys have told us the FCC would likely not grant the waiver out of concern it would further complicate the incentive auction; Nexstar said that isn't a significant issue. “With the exception of two stations, the actual licensee of any Media General station will not change nor will its [FCC registration number] in connection with this Transaction,” Nexstar said. Delaying the deals approval because of the auction “unnecessarily subject the Applicants’ consummation of the Transaction to the vagaries of an Incentive Auction that will last several more months in a best-case scenario and could well stretch beyond that into 2017,” Nexstar said. “There are no public interest benefits to be gained by applying these rules to the Transaction. In fact, the growing delay in concluding the Incentive Auction steadily increases the market distortion and public harm caused by strict application of these rules.” Bayou City Broadcasting, which is set to buy two stations being divested by Nexstar as part of the transaction, also urged the commission to expedite the approval process. BCB is small and African-American owned, said CEO DuJuan McCoy in a letter supporting the waiver request. "Any extended delay in closing this transaction could have extreme negative financial consequences for me and my company and could perhaps create insurmountable obstacles that could jeopardize my ability to close this transaction and/or financially operate the properties after closing based on our original financial assumptions."