The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has officially approved the acquisition of Alpha Media by Connoisseur Media.
As part of the deal, Connoisseur Media will create a new company to hold its existing licenses. It will then merge with the group that holds Alpha Media’s licenses. When that merger is completed, Connoisseur will then begin a loan agreement to pay off Alpha’s current debt.
Additionally, Alpha Media stockholders will have the ability to purchase up to 5% of stock from Connoisseur until 2029.
The FCC also has stated that the company can keep its Tyler-Longview, Texas stations intact, with questions previously wondering about the ownership limits in the market. Alpha Media previously had a waiver to the rule limiting how many FM radio stations one group could own in a given market.
Connoisseur Media had asked the FCC to continue that waiver under the new ownership, which the commission accepted.
“We find that strict application of Note 4 is not warranted here given the unique circumstances of the underlying Waiver Request and that granting the Waiver Request will serve the public interest,” the FCC stated. “Additionally, we find that granting a waiver of Note 4 for the proposed transaction will not undermine the purpose of the Local Radio Ownership Rule in the Tyler-Longview Market.”
The FCC noted that there was no opposition to the waiver filed by Connoisseur Media.
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