WASHINGTON, D.C.—American  American Television Alliance (ATVA) has issued a statement criticizing retransmission consent negotiating tactics by Apollo Global Management-owned Cox Media Group. 

Citing examples of what it called blackouts and threats of blackouts this holiday season, the ATVA said that those disruptions highlight why Standard General’s proposed $8.6 billion acquisition of Tegna poses a “significant threat to consumers”. 

The pay-TV operator-backed ATVA group noted that the broadcaster had already pulled its local television stations from Dish customers this holiday season even though the deal is under a great deal of scrutiny as the FCC continues to investigate Standard General's proposed acquisition of Tegna. Dish is a member of the ATVA.

“The unreasonable demands by broadcasters like Apollo’s Cox Media could not come at a worse time for families who rely on their local stations for news during the holiday season and gather together to watch holiday programming and their favorite NFL teams ahead of playoffs,” said ATVA spokesperson Jessica Kendust. “Instead of being on its best behavior as Apollo’s Cox Media pushes for FCC approval of its investment, Apollo’s Cox Media has proven it is willing to disenfranchise viewers who have done nothing wrong while the FCC is watching closely. This suggests that worse could be yet to come when the spotlight is removed.” 

 The ATVA acknowledged that Standard General sent a letter to the FCC seeking to assuage those concerns. In a bid to get rid of concerns that Standard General might work with Cox on retransmission consent deal, the letter clearly states that Cox's retransmission agreements won't apply to Tegna stations.  

Last week's letter to the FCC didn't, however, settle the matter for ATVA. 

“There is a bigger problem here,” added Kendust. “The ATVA has warned that this deal poses a more significant threat to consumers because the pending transaction will ‘intertwine’ Apollo’s Cox Media, Standard General, and Tegna in a way that permits the parties to collude—resulting in higher prices all around. Dish, an ATVA member, says that Apollo’s Cox Media has already attempted to negotiate for Tegna’s stations.”  

“We understand that Standard General has offered conditions to the FCC designed to address some of the harms we identified," the statement continued. "But the reality is that the proposed investment increases the parties’ incentive and ability to collude in ways unaddressed by Standard General’s offer. The FCC should look closely at the transaction and do whatever it takes to prevent big broadcast from colluding.” 

As previously reported, opponents of the deal have expressed concerns that the deal would, among other problems, increase retransmission fees and increase the cost of pay TV for consumers. 

More specifically they have worried that the deal has been structured so that Standard General and the private equity group Apollo Global Management would be able to work together to hike retransmission agreements. 

If the deal is approved, Cox Media Group, which is owned by Apollo, will acquire Tegna stations in Austin (KVUE), Dallas (WFAA and KMPX) and Houston (KHOU and KTBU) from Standard General and CMG and funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management would hold non voting securities in the company.

NEW YORK—Verizon has agreed to terms with Apollo Global Management that will see Apollo acquire Verizon Media for $5 billion. Verizon Media consists of Yahoo, AOL and other ad tech and media platform businesses.

Per the deal, Verizon will retain 10% of the spun off company, which will be known as Yahoo. Verizon Media CEO Guru Gowrappan will remain in his position.

“We are excited to be joining forces with Apollo,” said Gowrappan. “The past two quarters of double-digit growth have demonstrated our ability to transform our media ecosystem. With Apollo’s sector expertise and strategic insight, Yahoo will be well positioned to capitalize on market opportunities, media and transaction experience and continue to grow our full stack digital advertising platform. This transition will help to accelerate our growth for the long- term success of the company.”

Verizon Media has grown over the last two quarters by pushing new ad offerings, consumer ecommerce, subscriptions, betting and strategic partnerships. Yahoo is also popular among Gen Z, as Yahoo News was labeled as the fastest growing news organization on TikTok.

Under the agreement, Verizon will receive $4.25 billion in cash, preferred interests of $750 million and 10% stock in Verizon Media. The transaction includes all of Verizon Media’s brands and businesses.

Verizon estimates that the deal will close in the second half of 2021.

WASHINGTON—The FCC has given its approval for Terrier Media, a newly formed company owned by Apollo Global Management, to acquire TV and radio stations from both Cox Enterprises and Northwest (NBI Holdings) with the understanding that the deal will be modified to adhere to new newspaper-broadcast ownership rules that came about following recent court proceedings.

The deal would see Terrier Media acquire all of the TV stations licensed to Northwest license subsidiaries for $384 million, as well as broadcast TV and radio stations owned by Cox for $3.1 billion.

When the U.S. Court of Appeals Third Circuit passed down its ruling in the Prometheus IV case dealing with vacated FCC broadcast ownership deregulation efforts, issues arose with the deal. According to the FCC, the parties amended the structure of the transactions to address any concerns that stemmed from the ruling.

However, the changes to the deal are not in place when it would now become official on Nov. 27, but the FCC has issued a 30-day window to allow all parties to become compliant.

“We recognize that the Television applicants may be in violation of certain broadcast multiple and cross-ownership rules following consummation as a result of the Prometheus IV decision,” the FCC’s Media Bureau wrote in its official decision. “However, we believe the unique circumstances of this case, specifically the Television Applicants’ specific commitments in the October 2019 Amendment and the timing of the Third Circuit’s decision, justify a brief 30-day period from consummation to come into compliance with these revised rules.”

Among the ways that the deal is expected to meet the new rules is for Northwest to surrender a license for one of its stations in Syracuse and Yuma not acquired by Terrier Media while also transferring all of the programming to the acquired station in each market. For Cox, Terrier says that it will change the publication frequency of three Cox newspapers in Ohio to three times a week.

The ownership rules weren’t the only objections to Apollo/Terrier’s acquisition of these stations. Multiple organizations, including Common Cause, filed comments saying how the acquisition would be against the public interest and hurt local TV coverage. However, citing its previous approval of the Nexstar-Tribune acquisition, the Media Bureau stated that it believes this acquisition would be in the public interest.

Read the FCC Media Bureau’s full order for more information.

TYSONS, Va.—Apollo has made two different buyout proposals to Tegna so far in 2019; Tegna confirmed the news in a statement released on Wednesday, Aug. 21.

Tegna says that the first buyout proposal from Apollo came via a letter in February, where Apollo said that it was interested in acquiring Tegna, but did not specify a price. Apollo followed up again in June with a new proposal, in which it would combine Tegna with broadcasting assets Apollo is in the process of buying. This proposal would not have resulted in a change of control for Tegna, the company said in its statement.

Apollo is currently in the process of buying the Cox TV stations following Cox Enterprises’ agreement to sell a majority interest in Cox Media Group earlier this year. Cox Media Group owns 13 TV stations and other assets. That deal is valued at $3 billion, per reports.

Tegna said that it does not intend to update the disclosure.

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.—Convergent Design has introduced its latest product, the Apollo, a portable HD multicamera recorder/switcher.

About the size of a tablet, the Apollo is able to simultaneously record up to four HD video signals, along with a fifth channel of either a live-switch between the four or a quad-split reference view. Apollo can also function as a four-channel live switcher while simultaneously recording the four isolated HD video signals. The Apollo keeps all cameras in sync with a matching timecode. The system utilizes 2.5-inch SSD media and features two SSD slots.

Using the new Apollo Media Manager app, recordings can be exported as separate Apple ProRes files or as a single multicamera QuickTime file that drops directly into the timeline of supporting NLEs like Final Cut Pro-X.

Additional features like two-channel 4K/UHD video recording, DNxHD recording, and cascade interconnect between up to three Apollos for up to 12 HD channel or six 4K/UHD channel simultaneous recording are planned for release in 2016. These updates will be made available through a free firmware update. A remote keypad control unit will also be offered, along with a rack mount and other accessories.

Convergent Design is planning to release the Apollo in December. Starting price will be $3,995 and include an SSD to USB3 adapter, a 5-pack of SSD mounting handles, and a universal AC power supply.