FCC Denies Request by Tribune

Regulators said Wednesday that they had denied Tribune Co.’s request for a permanent waiver of U.S. media-ownership rules that would let the company hold a newspaper and television station in the same area in Connecticut. The Federal Communications Commission extended Tribune’s temporary waiver.

Tribune, based in Chicago, owns both the Hartford Courant and the WTXX TV station in Waterbury, Conn. The company has been trying unsuccessfully to sell the TV station, the FCC order said.

There is a “significant possibility that either the station might go dark or service to the community would be reduced without additional time for Tribune to divest,” FCC Democratic members Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein said in a joint statement.

Tribune spokesman Gary Weitman declined to comment.

The temporary waiver would extend until the FCC completes its review of renewal applications by WTXX and another Tribune-owned TV station, WTIC in Hartford, the order said. This interval would give Tribune time to improve the stations’ performance and their chances for sale, it said.

Tribune shares fell 10 cents to $39.25 on the New York Stock Exchange, before the news.

FCC rules forbid a company from owning a newspaper and TV station in the same market.

Tribune also owns The Times and TV station KTLA.