Media Mogul Sues FCC Over TV Deal Gone Sour

Media Mogul Soo Kim has filed a lawsuit against the FCC, alleging racial discrimination.

The lawsuit stems from the FCC’s decision to derail an $8.6 billion deal to purchase Tegna Inc. Kim claims that he was not considered the “right type of minority” for the FCC’s diversity goals. 

Soo Kim

Here are the key details: Soo Kim, is a Korean American raised in New York, and his company, Standard General, won a public bidding auction to buy Tegna and its 60-plus television stations in 2022.

Kim intended to install a female chief executive, and the transaction was poised to be a historic leap forward for both minority ownership and female leadership of broadcast stations.

FCC’s Decision: However, the FCC nixed the deal in favor of Black media tycoon Byron Allen. The complaint alleges that the FCC believed Allen’s black-owned company deserved greater solicitude than Kim’s Asian American-owned company.

Byron Allen

Racial Discrimination: Kim’s lawyers argue that the FCC’s diversity policies and practices did not consider being Asian as a factor. They assert that Kim’s race was used against him with pernicious stereotypes.

Equity and Fair Treatment: Kim seeks accountability and equitable treatment, emphasizing that every person appearing before the FCC deserves to be treated fairly. 

Kim accused the FCC of dragging its feet by taking over 300 days to take action on Standard General’s license-transfer applications for the Tegna stations before the deal was "killed" without notice. 

"Standard General was one of the largest shareholders, losing nearly $85 million based on its 10.6 million shares owned when the deal died," the complaint said. "The FCC chairwoman and her personal staffer blocked the deal at the behest of Mr. Allen, who used business allies and six-figure political donations to destroy Mr. Kim’s chances of acquiring TEGNA – to the tune of over $200 million in losses to Standard General and Mr. Kim and nearly $2 billion in losses to TEGNA shareholders."