The leadership of the FCC is facing a possible reshuffling as a powerful Democratic senator threatened to hold up a key confirmation if the agency didn’t vote on a stalled cable deal, sources told The NY Post.
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez railed ob the Senate floor about the FCC jeopardizing the offer by Soo Kim’s Standard General to buy Tegna, the owner of 64 television stations, “through, in essence, inaction.”
Kim, a Korean-American who grew up in Queens, agreed to pay $8.6 billion in February 2022 for the media company. The deal would make Kim the largest minority owner of a broadcast station group in the country.
“We need the FCC Commissioners to commit to increasing diversity in media ownership not just in words but with actions,” Menendez said in his speech on April 24.
“I, for one, will not support nominees for the FCC if they are unwilling to support diversity.”
The agency has been in chaos for nearly two years as President Biden tried to push through Gigi Sohn to fill the fifth seat on the partisan board.
Last month, she was forced to withdraw after Sen. Joe Manchin said he would not support Biden’s overly progressive nominee.
Kim, a Korean-American who grew up in Queens, agreed to pay $8.6 billion in February 2022 for the media company. The deal would make Kim the largest minority owner of a broadcast station group in the country.
“We need the FCC Commissioners to commit to increasing diversity in media ownership not just in words but with actions,” Menendez said in his speech on April 24.
“I, for one, will not support nominees for the FCC if they are unwilling to support diversity.”
The agency has been in chaos for nearly two years as President Biden tried to push through Gigi Sohn to fill the fifth seat on the partisan board.
Last month, she was forced to withdraw after Sen. Joe Manchin said he would not support Biden’s overly progressive nominee.
No comments:
Post a Comment