News Corp. May Get OK on TV Stations’ Purchase

Federal regulators are expected this week to approve News Corp.’s $5.35-billion purchase of Chris-Craft Industries Inc.’s 10 television stations--waiving government rules that would have prevented the deal, sources said.

The purchase was announced last August, but Democrats on the Federal Communications Commission have resisted approving the deal out of concern it would allow media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s company to exceed agency limits on the reach of media companies.

The agency was still in the process of voting late Friday, but sources said they expect the deal to be approved as early as today in a 3-to-2 vote along party lines. The FCC is likely to grant News Corp. only temporary waivers from the ownership rules, according to several sources close to the decision.

At the close of the deal, News Corp. would own 32 stations with a total audience reach of 40% of the country, 5% more than federal rules ordinarily permit.

News Corp. also would own two stations in Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and Salt Lake City. The Justice Department has already approved the deal on the condition that News Corp. sell one of its stations in Salt Lake City.

News Corp. also would be in the position of owning two TV stations and a newspaper in the New York City market.

FCC rules ban companies from owning a TV station and newspaper in the same market. News Corp. was given a waiver to the rule in 1993 so that it could acquire the New York Post.

Now News Corp. needs a second waiver to the same rule before it can take over Chris-Craft’s WWOR-TV in Secaucus, N.J., which is considered part of the New York market. Sources say the FCC will give News Corp. two years to sell one of its stations or the newspaper.