WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced Nov. 1 that Entercom Communications Corp. must divest 13 radio stations before proceeding with a plan to acquire CBS Radio Inc.
The department's Antitrust Division had filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Entercom in U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia. The Antitrust Division alleges Entercom’s acquisition of CBS Radio would be anti-competitive, specifically in the markets of Boston, San Francisco and Sacramento, California. Head-to-head competition between Entercom and CBS Radio for local and national advertisers would have allegedly been affected.
To resolve the allegations, Entercom will divest the WBZ AM, WBZ FM, WRKO AM, WKAF FM and WZLX FM radio stations in Boston, the KOIT FM, KMVQ FM, KUFX FM and KBLX FM radio stations in San Francisco, and the KNCI FM, KYMX FM, KZZO FM and KHTK AM in Sacramento.
“The required divestitures will protect competition for local businesses that advertise on radio stations in Boston, San Francisco and Sacramento,” said assistant attorney general Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The elimination of this competition would have resulted in higher prices to businesses in these markets.”