Report: Byron Allen Wants To Derail Tegna TV Deal

Media mogul Byron Allen appears to be courting major Democratic politicians once again as he attempts to stop a hedge fund’s acquisition of TV station giant Tegna, according to The NY Post citing a prominent Beltway research firm.

The Department of Justice is within days of potentially clearing hedge fund Standard General’s $8.6 billion buyout of Tegna — a publicly traded chain of 64 local TV stations that was spun off in 2015 from newspaper giant Gannett.

Meanwhile Allen — who reportedly has been angling to nab Tegna’s nationwide broadcasting empire to widen the distribution of his own nascent cable channels — on Friday hosted an event at his Los Angeles home for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies (D-NY) and Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) with guests that also included Nancy Pelosi, according to Deadline Hollywood.

“We would not be surprised by a forthcoming letter from the … politicians [at the event] raising concerns regarding private equity firm Standard General’s purchase of Tegna to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel,” Washington Analysis, which advises institutional investors on DC policy, wrote in a note to clients last week that was reviewed by The Post.

If the DOJ approves the deal, which seems increasingly likely, it would then go to the FCC and Rosenworcel would decide whether to clear it, sources said.

“Any letter from the new Democrat House leadership would be designed to put further pressure on Rosenworcel to ‘pocket veto’ the transaction by failing to act,” the letter said.

A spokesperson for Allen responded in a written statement to The Post that “Mr. Allen did not speak to the Democratic Party leadership about Tegna” at the party.

In an unusual move in October, Pelosi sent a letter to FCC Chair Rosenworcel expressing “serious concerns” about the deal to buy Tegna. The letter raised eyebrows as Pelosi does not weigh in on many mergers. Tegna doesn’t own any stations in her California district, and nor was the merger seen as having much national importance, sources said.

In the letter, Pelosi, along with Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone Jr., said she was worried the deal would raise cable bills, crimp local news coverage and spur job losses.