FCC Approves Westinghouse, Infinity Broadcasting Merger

Removing the last regulatory obstacle, the government agreed Thursday to let Westinghouse Electric and Infinity Broadcasting merge into the nation’s largest radio group.

The Federal Communications Commission’s approval of the $3.9-billion deal, announced in June, had been expected.

The new group will operate 79 radio stations in 17 markets, accounting for more than $1 billion in annual revenue, said Westinghouse, which plans to close the deal by the end of the year.

“The radio industry is poised to expand its 7% share of the advertising market, and we intend to lead that expansion,” said Mel Karmazin, who will lead the new combined CBS Radio group upon closing the merger. Karmazin is now Infinity’s chief.

Westinghouse is the parent company of CBS Inc.

The Justice Department cleared the deal in November.

To comply with new federal ownership rules, Westinghouse has filed applications to divest two radio stations in Chicago and three in Dallas-Fort Worth, the FCC said. To get Justice Department approval, the two companies had also agreed to sell one station in Philadelphia and another in Boston.

The new ownership rules say a company can’t own more than eight radio stations in the largest local markets.

Westinghouse had asked the FCC for waivers of rules in nine markets so that it may own both TV and radio stations.

The FCC, however, granted temporary waivers so that the company may hold stations up to six months after the FCC issues a final decision in proceedings that could further relax local ownership rules, making such media combinations possible.

Those markets are: Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Detroit, Boston, Baltimore and Washington.

Separately, the FCC also gave Westinghouse, as it requested, permanent waivers of local ownership rules so that it can retain radio and TV stations acquired in November from CBS. Those stations are in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit and Chicago.