• by David Goetzl , September 2, 2008

Just as it emerged that the Department of Justice had nullified a deal that Raycom had in place to sell the CBS station in Richmond, Va., the DOJ filed suit last week to force the station group to find another buyer.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, looks to enforce an agreement that Raycom made with DOJ four months ago. Back then, Raycom--which already owned the CBS station--bought the NBC outlet from Lincoln Financial.

In the process, it agreed to sell the CBS affiliate within 90 days of the purchase, and allow the DOJ to approve the buyer. The reason was that the two stations accounted for more than half of the spot market in Richmond, the DOJ said--resulting in anti-trust concerns.

By June, Raycom had a deal to sell the CBS station to Sinclair for $85 million. But Sinclair said last week the DOJ turned the deal down.

Sinclair already owned the Fox affiliate. And in order to gain control of the CBS station, it planned to sell the Fox station's license, yet continue to manage its sales and other operations.

The suit is not entirely unexpected, since Raycom knew if it failed to divest the CBS affiliate, the DOJ would take action. In addition to the suit, the DOJ has filed a proposed settlement the court can approve.

Raycom has continued to operate the CBS and NBC stations separately in order to preserve competition, as per its agreement with the DOJ.

Richmond is the country's 59th-largest DMA.