JESSELL AT LARGE

FCC Nixes Another Deal With Deafening Silence

Fargo, N.D.-based Forum Communications has learned the hard way just how much this FCC hates broadcast deals of any size.

Forum Communications’ Planned Purchase Of KVRR & KQDS Falls Through

A deal for Forum Communications Company to acquire Fox affiliates KVRR Fargo, N.D., and KQDS Duluth, Minn., has come undone. The deal failed to materialize as both Forum Communications and Red River Broadcasting awaited what is called a “Big Four waiver request” from the FCC. The waiver would have allowed Forum to acquire a second “Big Four” network affiliate in the Fargo market.

JESSELL AT LARGE

Jessell | FCC Duop Inaction Hurting Station Owners

Gray Television’s deal to buy KDLT Sioux Fall, S.D., and create a precedent-setting affiliate duopoly in the market has been hung up at the FCC for 15 months without any explanation. For the sake of buyers and sellers, large and small, the FCC needs to act.

DMA 115: SIOUX FALLS, SD

KDLT Says DOJ Has OK’d Sale To Gray

An internal email from the GM of Red River Broadcasting’s NBC affiliate in Sioux Falls, S.D., says the Justice Department has signed off on the $32 million sale to Gray Television first proposed in 2018.