David Burns serves as chair of Lerman Senter's Media Practice Group. He brings more than 30 years of experience representing media and communications companies. While his experience and practice cover the full range of communications and media industry issues, his primary focus is on regulatory and transactional matters facing the media and broadcast industries, including representation of clients before the Federal Communications Commission and other federal agencies.
David acts as regulatory and deal counsel on transactional matters such as mergers, acquisitions, and financings, and regularly counsels clients on compliance with regulatory requirements affecting programming content, political advertising, ownership issues, station licensing and operations, and spectrum management.
David has represented clients in small deals and in multibillion-dollar transactions, and his clients appreciate his pragmatic and business-oriented approach. Clients value him as “super responsive and very smart, a very good writer, and very easy to work with. He has gotten good results for us.” Another client particularly appreciates that “he understands my business, my tolerances and my objectives.”
Prior to joining Lerman Senter, David practiced with a large international law firm in Washington, DC. He speaks at seminars and conferences and writes on a variety of media and communications industry issues.
Representative Transactions
- Represented Audacy, Inc. (fka Entercom Communications), the second largest radio broadcast company in the U.S., in acquisition of CBS Radio, a $2.8 billion transaction.
- Represented Audacy Inc. in related divestiture transactions ranging in size from $20 million to $100 million.
- Represented Cumulus Media Inc., the third largest radio broadcast company in the U.S., in reorganization under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.
- Represented Cumulus Media Inc. in various term loan and asset-based financing facilities.
- Represented Cumulus Media Inc. in petitions for declaratory ruling before the FCC relating to foreign ownership.
- Represented AtLink Services, LLC, a fixed-wireless internet service provider, in sale to Element8 Technology Investments Group.
- Represented Broadwave, LLC in sale of its internet service operations to Hotwire Communications.
- Represented KAZT, LLC in time brokerage agreement/option transaction with Nexstar Media Group regarding station KAZT-TV.
- Represented Meruelo Media in the sale of Los Angeles market TV station KWHY-TV in a $30 million transaction including a channel sharing agreement.
- Represented Citadel in sale of TV stations to Nexstar for $88 million.
- Represented Equity Communications in sale of its radio station group to iHeartMedia.
- Represented Equity Communications in sale of tower assets to Everist Infrastructure.
- Represented Winton Road Broadcasting in sale of radio stations to Hutton Broadcasting.
- Represented American General Media in sale of tower assets to InSite Wireless (now American Tower Corp.)
- Represented JBS, Inc. in sale of WYSJ-CA to TEGNA.
- Represented CXR Radio, LLC as divestiture trust for certain stations in connection with acquisition of Cox Radio by Apollo Global Management.
- Represented CIBL, Inc. in acquisition of the New Hampshire telco operations of LICT Corp.
- Represented CIBL, Inc. in acquisition of stock of Brick Skirt Holdings.