Experience

US Supreme Court Upholds FCC’s Modernized Television Station Ownership Rules, Affirming Cooley Amicus Briefs

April 25, 2022

The US Supreme Court ruled on April 1, 2021 that the Federal Communications Commission was within its authority to repeal or modify three long-standing media ownership controls. The decision aligned with arguments Cooley made in amicus briefs submitted on behalf of Gray Television that, after years of challenges, the FCC’s modernized rules finally should be allowed to take effect because the agency issued them in full compliance with its obligations under Section 202(h) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court found no issues with the agency’s 2017 decision, which eliminated bans on broadcast-newspaper and television-radio cross-ownership, nixed restrictions on cross-station advertising agreements and dropped a diversity-of-viewpoints rule for local markets. Lawyers David Mills, Robert McDowell and Barrett Anderson led the Cooley effort.

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Related contacts

David E. Mills
Partner, Washington DC
Robert M. McDowell
Partner, Washington DC
Barrett J. Anderson
Associate, San Diego
John Feore
Senior Counsel, Washington DC
Jason Rademacher
Special Counsel, Washington DC

Meredith Agrees to Sell TV Broadcast Group to Gray Television for $2.8 Billion

May 10, 2021

Cooley advised Meredith Corporation on its agreement to sell its local media group, which consists of 17 television stations reaching 11% of US households and 30 million viewers, to Gray Television for $2.8 billion. Partners Kevin Mills, Aaron Binstock and Michael Basile led the Cooley team advising Meredith on the deal.

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Related contacts

Kevin Mills
Senior Counsel, Washington DC
Aaron Binstock
Partner, Washington DC
Michael Basile
Partner, Washington DC
Stacey A. Bradford
Special Counsel, Washington DC
Christy Burrow
Special Counsel, Washington DC
Lesse Castleberry
Senior Counsel, New York
Helenanne Connolly
Partner, Reston
Darren DeStefano
Partner, Reston
Wesley Dietrich
Associate, Washington DC
Jason Rademacher
Special Counsel, Washington DC
Robby L.R. Saldaña
Associate, Washington DC
Jennifer Don
Associate, Reston
Paula Fleckenstein
Associate, Reston
Kristine Forderer
Partner, San Francisco
Virat Gupta
Associate, Washington DC
Anthony Hajj
Associate, New York
Carly Mitchell
Associate, Washington DC
Rick Jantz
Associate, Los Angeles Santa Monica
MaryBeth Shreiner
Associate, Reston
Michael Tollini
Partner, Washington DC
Meredith Klionsky
Associate, Washington DC
Kristin Leavy
Special Counsel, Washington DC
Mary Maher Lewis
Special Counsel, Reston
John Logan
Special Counsel, Washington DC
David E. Mills
Partner, Washington DC
Howard Morse
Partner, Washington DC
Addison Pierce
Associate, Chicago
David Walsh
Partner, Reston
Rubin Waranch
Associate, Washington DC
Henry Wendel
Special Counsel, Washington DC
David Safren
Associate, New York

ION Media Agrees to Sell to E.W. Scripps for $2.65 Billion

October 21, 2020

Cooley advised ION Media on its agreement to sell to E.W. Scripps for $2.65 billion, combining the business with Scripps' Katz networks and Newsy to create a full-scale national television networks business. Lawyers John Feore and Jason Rademacher led the Cooley team advising ION.

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Related contacts

John Feore
Senior Counsel, Washington DC
Jason Rademacher
Special Counsel, Washington DC
Robert M. McDowell
Partner, Washington DC
Henry Wendel
Special Counsel, Washington DC

Apollo Global Management $3.484 Billion Acquisition of Broadcast Businesses

December 18, 2019

Cooley represented Apollo Global Management in the $3.484 billion acquisition by PE funds affiliated with Apollo of the broadcast television businesses of Northwest Broadcasting and Cox Media Group, CMG’s radio station portfolio, CoxReps, the nation’s largest national television rep company, and Gamut, a national advertising business.

Related contacts

Michael Basile
Partner, Washington DC
Christy Burrow
Special Counsel, Washington DC
John Feore
Senior Counsel, Washington DC
J.G. Harrington
Special Counsel, Washington DC
John Logan
Special Counsel, Washington DC
Robert M. McDowell
Partner, Washington DC
Jason Rademacher
Special Counsel, Washington DC
Henry Wendel
Special Counsel, Washington DC

Rankings & accolades

Chambers USA: Media & Entertainment: Regulatory

Legal 500: Media, Technology and Telecoms – Telecoms and Broadcast: Regulatory

Memberships & affiliations

National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications, VP