Having nixed Raycom Media's plan to sell WTVR Richmond, Va., to Sinclair Broadcast Group, the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division today gave Raycom just 30 days to find another buyer.

To enforce the order, DOJ filed a suit against Raycom alleging that its ownership of two stations in Richmond, WTVR as well as WWBT, would violate antitrust law.

The DOJ said that it would drop the suit when Raycom spins off WTVR to a suitable buyer.

"The divestiture is necessary to preserve competition for advertisers who buy broadcast television time in the Richmond market," said Deborah A. Garza, deputy assistant attorney general of the antitrust division.

"Without this divestiture, advertisers of local Richmond stations would have paid higher prices."

DOJ's action against Raycom came after it rejected the station group's proposed sale of WTVR to Sinclair for $85 million.

"The department reviewed the [WTVR] sale and concluded that it would not have restored competitive conditions they existed prior to the challenged transaction," a DOJ spokeswoman said.

Sinclair had planned to operate CBS affiliate WTVR as a virtual duopoly with Fox affiliate WRLH.

Because FCC rules prohibit ownership of two top-rated stations in markets as small as Richmond, Sinclair had planned to spin off WRLH to a third party, Carma Broadcasting, but continue to operate it under contract with Carma.

Raycom's troubles with DOJ began last April when it  purchased all three stations of the Lincoln Financial Group — WBTV Charlotte, N.C. (CBS, DMA 25); WWBT Richmond, Va. (NBC); and WCSC Charleston, S.C. (CBS, DMA 100) — as well as its sports syndication business for $583 million in cash.

The deal gave Raycom two stations in Richmond, one too many for the DOJ.

To win DOJ approval of the deal, Raycom entered into a consent decree promising to spin off WTVR within 90 days.

Under the decree, DOJ can reject unilaterally any buyer for the station and Raycom has no right to appeal a rejection.

Raycom received word that the DOJ had rejected the Sinclair deal on Monday, but got no explanation as to why, said Tom Henson, an attorney for Raycom.

Unable to challenge the rejection, Raycom is now seeking a "new buyer with all the vim and vigor we can muster," Henson said.

The 30-day deadline for finding a buyer is not as onerous as it appears, Henson said. A federal law gives Raycom an additional 30 days so, in effect, it has 60 days.

And if at the end of that time, Raycom still hasn't found a buyer, the station will pass into the hands of a trustee who will continue the search.

"It's not as if we are going to lose the station," Henson said.