The Justice Department has greenlit a bid by Liberty Media to increase its stake in iHeartMedia, owner of the country's largest network of broadcast stations — a deal that would expand the radio market dominance of a company that already controls Sirius XM and Pandora.
The deal approved by antitrust prosecutors Wednesday would allow Liberty to increase its shares in iHeartMedia up to 50 percent. Liberty currently has a 5 percent stake in iHeartMedia, which owns more than 850 AM and FM radio stations and the streaming service iHeartRadio, the world’s top commercial publisher of podcasts.
Wendy Goldberg, a spokesperson for iHeartRadio, confirmed the Justice Department’s approval and referred further comment to Liberty Media.
Liberty, owned by billionaire John Malone, already owns a controlling stake in SiriusXM, the U.S.’s biggest satellite radio provider, which bought streaming radio platform Pandora last year. Liberty has a 33 percent stake in Live Nation Entertainment, the biggest concert promotion firm and ticketing company.
A coalition of consumer and anti-monopoly groups, including the Open Markets Institute, Public Citizen and the Center for Digital Democracy, opposed the deal, arguing it would be “likely catastrophic” on radio markets and lead to fewer options, less diversity in programming and higher prices.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. A representative for Liberty Media didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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