UNIVISION STATIC
FCC asked to stall deals until Trump era begins
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, which plans an initial public offering 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 are 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 bump- ier 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. Ramos, a Univision anchor and crusader for immigrant rights, was ejected from a Trump news conference in August and has since been outspoken against Trump’s proposed immigration policies.
Some media insiders were not persuaded that Trump would automatically be against the Univision request.
“Don’t assume anything when it comes to The Donald. He just wants to be liked,” one source said.
Univision isn’t the only corporation to feel some postelection pressure.
Protesters have been burning New Balance sneakers after an executive said the company was against the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, a Trump campaign punching bag.
PepsiCo also has come under fire, with Trump supporters threatening to boycott its products after Chief Executive Indra Nooyi said her staff was crying after the election result.
Michael Maslansky, who runs a New York consultancy that helps companies communicate using the right language, told The Post that he is “starting to talk to clients about how to engage in this environment.”
“You can’t walk back your comments, but find a way to walk them forward and continue to press what is important,” he said. “For so many companies, the rules have just been blown up.”
Separately, Univision said it was laying off up to 250 staff members, or 6 percent of its workforce, before its IPO. The layoffs affect Univision youthtargeted network Fusion but not Gawker Media Group, it said.