SBS Suit Against Clear Channel & Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. Dismissed.

United States District Judge Patricia A. Seitz entered a final order on Friday dismissing with prejudice the Miami antitrust lawsuit brought by Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. (“SBS”) against Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation (“HBC”) and Clear Channel Communications, Inc. The order ends the federal lawsuit. HBC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer McHenry Tichenor, Jr. said, “We are pleased with the result and look forward to the completion of our merger with Univision.”

The Court opinion repeatedly questioned, and ultimately found no merit in, SBS’s antitrust claims. Judge Seitz instead determined that the lawsuit had another motivation, saying, “(T)his case is really about the fallout from a failed merger. SBS expected to merge with HBC and create the largest Spanish-language radio station in the top-ten markets, but HBC decided to accept Univision’s offer instead. On the same day as the merger was announced, SBS sued…” Judge Seitz explained that “in its haste to assert a federal antitrust claim against (Clear Channel) and HBC, SBS has lost sight of the most important player in the case — the consumer.”

Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. on the other hand has vowed to continue to prosecute this case vigorously and have every confidence that SBS’s claims will be reinstated and vindicated upon appeal.