Law Firm Says DOJ Has Cleared Metro Networks Sale

Gets DOJ To OK Deal

The Department of Justice has quietly cleared the already-closed sale of METRO NETWORKS by WESTWOOD ONE to CLEAR CHANNEL, according to a post at law firm JONES DAY's website.

The post, promoting JONES DAY's work on the case, said that the law firm "convinced the DOJ that radio stations themselves have the tools and incentive to begin providing their own traffic reporting services and have consistently done so in recent years. The team also argued that repositioning by companies that provide traffic data for non-broadcast purposes or that provide traffic reports to television stations or radio stations outside the U.S. was also likely. In addition, notwithstanding the transaction, radio stations that do not wish to take their traffic reporting business in-house would continue to have numerous alternatives post-transaction, including obtaining traffic reports from other national or regional providers or dropping traffic reports altogether in favor of other content. The DOJ ultimately accepted these arguments and closed its investigation."

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