(credit: Mike Mozart)

Advocacy groups are urging US regulators to consider blocking AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner Inc., but AT&T may be able to avoid any review by the Federal Communications Commission.

The merger will be analyzed by the Department of Justice, but AT&T has said the FCC will be involved only if any FCC licenses are transferred to AT&T. A TV station is an example of something that requires an FCC license, but AT&T said that it and Time Warner are still “determining which FCC licenses, if any, will be transferred to AT&T in connection with the transaction.”

The reason for this uncertainty is that “despite its big media footprint, Time Warner has only one FCC-regulated broadcast station, WPCH-TV in Atlanta,” Reuters reported. “Time Warner could sell the license to try to avoid a formal FCC review, several analysts said.” (Time Warner Inc. is completely separate from Time Warner Cable, which was sold to Charter this year after an FCC review.)