Andrew Jay Schwartzman, President and CEO of Media Access Project, has issued the following statement in response to Tribune Company’s announcement that it will attempt to sell itself to Sam Zell:

bq.. “A sale to Zell will have to surmount fierce opposition to obtain FCC approval.

“Tribune has made another bad choice. Seven years ago, it bet that it could change FCC ownership rules to hold on to its co-located newspapers and TV stations (in Ft. Lauderdale, Hartford, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). It lost that gamble when citizens groups successfully opposed repeal of those policies.

“Under FCC rules, which have been upheld by the Supreme Court, Tribune may not sell its co-located properties to a single purchaser. That means Zell will have to obtain five waivers from the FCC. In particular, Zell will have to convince the FCC to allow him to keep both the Chicago Tribune and Tribune’s Chicago TV and radio stations, ownership of which until now has been ‘grandfathered.’

“Another obstacle to the proposed sale is that Tribune must still obtain license renewals for its TV stations in Los Angeles, Hartford and New York. Media Access Project is co-counsel to citizen groups which have opposed renewal in the first two cities and expect to challenge the New York license when it comes up for renewal next month. Tribune has sought waivers in those cases, but the framework for those requests is wiped out by the proposed sale to Sam Zell.”