But FCC Asked to Hold Univision Sale Until Trump Becomes President
Univision’s private equity backers and its Mexican programming partner just ran into a roadblock.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation strongly discouraged the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday from making major decisions until the Trump administration is in place.
Univision, expected to go public in the coming months, had asked the FCC for permission for Mexico-based Televisa, from which it buys telenovelas, to increase its stake in the Spanish-language network to 40 percent from 10 percent.
Current rules restrict foreign ownership of US television networks.
“It’s a big concern,” said a source close to Univision.
An FCC spokeswoman confirmed the Univision petition has yet to be ruled upon.
For several reasons, a Trump administration is expected to give the request a much tougher review.
While the odds of getting its request acted upon in the 64 days before Trump is inaugurated is slim, one connected media source cautioned, “This may still get decided before a new FCC chairman is appointed.”
Univision’s road to FCC approval under a Trump White House is expected to be bumpier for several reasons.
For starters, Univision is backed by Haim Saban, its executive chairman and a vocal Hillary Clinton supporter.
Plus, Univision has had a less than positive relationship with the President-elect. For instance, Chief Executive Randy Falco fought with Trump over a variety of issues, including the Miss Universe pageants.
Trump sued Univision for $500 million after the company dumped its coverage of the pageants because Trump described some Mexicans as “rapists.”
Then there was the Trump-Jorge Ramos dustup.
Your Esitor Asks: Any more surprises?
