Marshall Bankruptcy Sale to Nexstar-Affiliated Mission Approved
The FCC Media Bureau approved Marshall Broadcasting’s bankruptcy sale of stations it purchased from Nexstar to Mission Broadcasting, a company that primarily operates stations through sharing arrangements with Nexstar. Marshall acquired the stations as part of Nexstar’s 2014 purchase of…
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stations from Communications Corp. of America, White Knight Broadcasting and Grant Broadcasting, but in 2019 filed FCC and court complaints alleging Nexstar continued to exert financial control over the stations after the sale. In April, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved transferring the stations to Mission. The Congress of Racial Equality, National Newspaper Publishers Association and law firm Randall and Associates filed in opposition to the transaction, but all were rejected as lacking standing in the matter, said a Media Bureau letter Monday. The oppositions raised arguments the deal would violate the FCC's ownership rules and allow Nexstar to have control over the stations. “The Opponents provide no specific support for their allegations that the transfer to Mission would violate the Commission’s rules or otherwise not be in the public interest,” the letter said. “Prompt emergence from bankruptcy is critical to the continued operation of the Stations, and facilitating prompt emergence” advances the public interest, the letter said. Nexstar, Marshall and Mission didn’t comment.