The National Association of Broadcasters is applauding the inclusion of new help for TV stations in the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Act of 2020 that appears headed for passage and to the President's desk for a signature.

“NAB applauds the inclusion of provisions in COVID-19 relief legislation that would expand eligibility to Paycheck Protection Program loans for local media outlets, including those radio and television stations which were previously excluded," said National Association of Broadcasters president Gordon Smith. "These provisions, in addition to the bill’s second round of PPP funding for which many stations will also be eligible, help local broadcasters maintain their operations during this difficult time and continue to provide news and information critical to local communities as vaccine distribution commences across the country."

In the original CARES Act, only single and struggling stations and newspapers could get small business loans, Broadcasters and publishers had wanted the government to treat struggling individual stations or papers as small businesses, even if they were part of larger groups that would not qualify if viewed from that perspective.

The new relief package would do that, though capping the loans to individual stations at $10 million per group.

According to NAB, these are the specific broadcaster-related paycheck protection provisions in the bill:

"Allow individual TV and radio stations to apply for PPP loans as long as the individual TV or radio station employs not more than 500 employees per physical location;

Permit the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make loans up to $10 million total across TV and radio stations owned by a station group (consistent with current SBA regulation);

Require newly eligible individual TV and radio stations to make a good faith certification that proceeds of the loan will be used to support expenses for the production or distribution of locally-focused or emergency information; and

Waive any prohibition on loans to broadcast stations owned by publicly traded entities."

That is in addition to the second round of small business loans--up to $2 million--that some broadcasters could also be eligible for. They go to businesses with 300 or fewer employees and at least 25% revenue loss in any 2020 quarter.

“We want to thank Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer for his tremendous support for local broadcast journalism during these critical and difficult COVID negotiations," sdaid David Donovan, president of the New York State Broadcasters Assocaition. "Because of his leadership, local stations throughout New York and the country will be able to continue providing life-saving information to their communities. Local stations that were ineligible under the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) will now be able to obtain a loan.  Many broadcast stations that secured an initial PPP loan have exhausted these funds but remained on the air to provide life-saving information to their communities.  The legislation allows these local stations to secure a “second draw” PPP loan.

Tegna's third largest shareholder -- investment fund Standard General -- is pushing for four seats on the broadcaster’s board of directors, a move that the company says would not be in the best interests of shareholders.

Standard General owns about 9.7% of Tegna stock. In a letter to shareholders, the investment fund said it has been rebuffed by Tegna management in its quest for the board seats.

Tegna has about 62 TV stations across the country. In March, it agreed to purchase about 11 Nexstar Media Group stations for $740 million.

Shares of Tegna stock were up about 2% in early trading Wednesday to $17.28 each. 

Tegna management issued a statement Wednesday disputing Standard General’s claims, adding that since the investor revealed its stake in the company, they have held several meetings with SG’s CEO and co-founder Soohyung Kim.

“In those meetings, Mr. Kim demanded a board seat for himself but offered no specific ideas to create value – only statements that if he were on the Board, he would have a unique ability to source and execute ‘transformative’ M&A.”

Standard General has criticized Tegna, claiming that its stock price lags its peers and pointing out that SG has unlocked value in its other broadcast holdings by seeking buyers for the assets. One of those assets -- Media General -- was purchased by Nexstar Media Group for about $5 billion, an 11.2 times multiple of cash flow. 

In his letter, Kim also claimed that since his company disclosed its stake -- and Tegna revealed in August that it had received outside interest from Apollo Global Management about a possible deal -- Tegna stock has risen 25%. 

In its statement, Tegna said it had thoroughly evaluated Kim as a potential director. After several meetings with him and interviewing others that have jointly served on boards with the executive, the broadcaster had “serious concerns.”

“The board has serious concerns about Mr. Kim’s prior business and board service, including a track record of endorsing and executing corporate actions in favor of his own investments to the detriment of other shareholders,” Tegna said. “The board is also concerned that his significant investments in and influence over other broadcasting companies would create a conflict of interest as a Tegna director.”

Tegna said its board unanimously decided that offering Kim a board seat was not in the best interests of shareholders, and informed him on Jan. 10.

“The board remains open to hearing Mr. Kim’s perspectives on Tegna’s business as a major shareholder,” Tegna said in its statement, adding that it will continue to evaluate the other three Sg nominees. ”The board will then make a determination that it believes will best serve the interests of the company and its shareholders.”

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as legal counsel to Tegna.