Zuckerman ready to bid for N.Y. Post
Chris-Craft deal awaits FCC approval
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News Corp. is trying to persuade the FCC to let it keep the Post in a market where it will own a second TV station when its merger with broadcaster Chris-Craft is approved.
If the FCC forces a sale, "I or my affiliates would be prepared to make a bid to purchase the New York Post," Zuckerman said in a letter.
The media and real estate mogul was responding to a query in a letter sent him by the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University Law School. The group asked Zuckerman if he or any third party he's aware of would want to buy the paper. It takes issue with News Corp.'s claim that the Post will fail if the FCC doesn't grant a second waiver.
In 1993, the conglom and its topper, Rupert Murdoch, used that argument successfully to receive an initial waiver to allow it to own the Post plus one TV station. The ruling went against FCC regs, which forbid ownership of a newspaper and a broadcast station in the same market.
'Not for sale'
"The New York newspaper market is one of the world's most cutthroat, and it's not surprising that Mr. Zuckerman would want to buy out his chief rival. But he's never spoken to us about it and, regardless, the Post is not for sale," said News Corp. spokesman Andrew Butcher.
"The letters speak for themselves," said a spokesman for the Daily News, stressing that Zuckerman had not initiated the exchange.
While owning two big newspapers in the same market doesn't break any rules, it doesn't do much toward preserving a diversity of voices, which is one of the FCC's mandates.
Argument undermined
Chris Day, an attorney working for the institute, said that's not the point. "To the extent you can show one potential buyer" for the Post, he said, News Corp.'s argument is undermined. "We hoped the letter would bring out other buyers." His group forwarded its letters and Zuckerman's response to the FCC.
Last week, the commission asked News Corp. for additional financial information on the Post. News Corp. apparently has responded, but the documents are sealed as the FCC weighs the company's request for confidentiality.
Zuckerman also owns U.S. News & World Report. He has sold off some of his other print holdings, such as the Atlantic Monthly and Fast Company.
