DIRECTV Files Complaint with FCC Questioning Control of Tribune Broadcasting Company During Bankruptcy

With more than 5 million DIRECTV

customers losing access to Tribune Broadcasting Co.'s 23 local stations in 19 cities since midnight Saturday, DIRECTV today filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission seeking an immediate intervention and expedited ruling against Tribune for failing to negotiate in good faith and bringing into question whether broadcast licenses have been prematurely, and inappropriately, transferred to bankruptcy creditors. In another case of runaway Wall Street greed, some of America's wealthiest hedge funds and investment banks, including Oaktree Partners, Angelo Gordon, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citibank, forced Tribune's senior management to renege on an agreement that would have kept DIRECTV customers connected to their local programming. Their actions represent a brazen attempt to extract yet another bailout on the backs of innocent viewers.