FCC OKs Clear Channel TV sale with changes

WASHINGTON -- Newport is an investment group controlled by Providence Equity Partners. The sale will result in a violation of FCC ownership rules in nine markets and will require the divestiture of several stations. The agency announced the decision Thursday night.

The sale was conducted within the context of a much larger plan that will take Clear Channel private. The company is the nation's largest operator of radio stations. Last month, shareholders approved the $19.5 billion sale of the company to a private equity group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners for $39.20 a share.

The sale of the 35 television stations will mean the new owner will be out of compliance with FCC rules that limit the number of stations one company may own in a single market. The market areas include Bakersfield, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Fresno and Monterey in California; Salt Lake City; Albany, N.Y.; Jacksonville, Fla., and San Antonio, Texas.

The companies asked the FCC for waivers to operate the stations for six months until it comes into compliance with the rules. The FCC granted waivers in eight of the nine markets, denying the request for Albany.

Providence also owns a stake in Spanish language network Univision Communications and Freedom Communications Holdings and is in violation of the newspaper-broadcast station cross-ownership rule in five markets. Providence has said it would divest properties in those markets but has yet to do so, blaming "volatile conditions" in the credit markets.

As part of its reasoning for granting the waivers, the agency in its decision noted the larger sale, which will result in Clear Channel spinning off a number of radio stations. When Clear Channel announced the buyout in November of 2006, it said it would sell 448 of its 1,150 radio stations, all located in smaller markets, in deals separate from the larger transaction.