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Exclusive: Sinclair approaches Tribune Media about possible deal - sources

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/07/...said-to-be-near-a-deal-for-tribune-media.html

Update other news outlets are reporting that Sinclair will buy Tribune and its value will be $45 per share

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-close-to-buying-tribune-for-about-45-a-share

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. is close to buying Tribune Media Co., a deal made possible after the Federal Communications Commission voted last month to ease a limit on TV-station ownership in the U.S.

Sinclair would pay about $45 a share, or about $4 billion, for the Chicago-based broadcasting company, according to people familiar with the talks who asked not to be named because the discussions aren’t public. Tribune’s closing price on Friday was $40.29, giving it a market value of $3.5 billion. While an agreement may be announced as early as Monday, the deal could still fall apart.

The acquisition of Tribune would give Sinclair TV stations in big media markets like New York, Chicago and Miami, strengthening its hand in negotiations with pay-TV distributors and major broadcast networks. The larger scale also would help the combined company face down online competitors vying for a piece of the local advertising pie.

21st Century Fox Inc., with funding from Blackstone Group LP, had been planning an offer for Tribune but in the end didn’t submit a bid, according to a person familiar with the matter. Nexstar Media Group Inc. also was preparing an offer, according to people familiar with the matter.

Gary Weitman, a spokesman for Tribune Media, and representatives from Nexstar and Fox declined to comment. Emails to Sinclair weren’t returned.

A potential marriage of two of the largest local TV station owners in the U.S. was made easier last month when the FCC restored a rule that allows TV station groups to count just half of their coverage area for Ultra High Frequency stations to comply with a 39 percent nationwide cap set by Congress.
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It’s Official: Sinclair Is Buying Tribune

Reports late Sunday and early Monday that Sinclair Broadcast Group would win its bid to buy Tribune Media Co. proved correct.

The two companies this morning announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Sinclair will acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Tribune for $43.50 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of approximately $2.7 billion in net debt.

Under the terms of the agreement, Tribune stockholders will receive $35.00 in cash and 0.23 shares of Sinclair Class A common stock for each share of Tribune Class A common stock and Class B common stock they own. The total $43.50 per share consideration represents a premium of approximately 26% over Tribune’s unaffected closing share price on Feb. 28, the day prior to media speculation regarding a possible transaction; approximately 14% over Tribune’s 30-day volume weighted average closing stock price; and approximately 8% over Tribune's closing share price on May 5, the last trading day prior to today’s announcement.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is anticipated to close and fund in the fourth quarter of 2017. Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by Tribune’s stockholders, as well as customary closing conditions, including approval by the FCC, and antitrust clearance.

In order to comply with FCC ownership requirements and antitrust regulations, Sinclair may sell certain stations in markets where it currently owns stations. Such divestitures, it said, will be determined through the regulatory approval process.
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http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/103905/its-official-sinclair-is-buying-tribune/format/print
 
Here is where Sinclair and Tribune both own stations.
Des Moines IA: KDSM (FOX Sinclair) and WHO (NBC Tribune)
Grand Rapids MI: WWMT (CBS Sinclair) and WXMI (FOX Tribune)
Hampton Roads VA: WTVZ (MNT Sinclair), WTKR (CBS Tribune), and WGNT (CW Sinclair)
Harrisburg PA: WHP (CBS Sinclair) and WPMT (FOX Tribune)
Milwaukee WI: WVTV (CW Sinclair), WCGV (MNT Sinclair), and WITI (FOX Tribune)
Oklahoma City OK: KOKH (FOX Sinclair), KOCB (CW Sinclair), KFOR (NBC Tribune), and KAUT (Independent Tribune)
Piedmont Triad NC: WXLV (ABC Sinclair), WMYV (MNT Sinclair), and WGHP (FOX Tribune)
Portland OR: KATU (ABC Sinclair), KUNP (Univision Sinclair), and KRCW (CW Tribune)
Richmond VA: WRLH (FOX Sinclair) and WTVR (CBS Tribune)
Salt Lake City UT: KUTV (CBS Sinclair) and KSTU (FOX Tribune)
Scranton-Wilkes-Barre PA: WOLF (FOX Sinclair), WQMY (MNT Sinclair), WSWB (CW Sinclair), and WNEP (ABC Tribune)
Seattle WA: KOMO (ABC Sinclair), KUNS (Univision Sinclair), KSTU (FOX Tribune), and KZJO (MNT Tribune)
St. Louis MO: KDNL (ABC Sinclair), KTVI (FOX Tribune), and KPLR (CW Tribune)
 
^ You forgot Washington DC. WJLA (ABC Sinclair) and WDCW (CW Tribune). And Sinclair also owns KJZZ (an independent station) in Salt Lake City.

After what happened with Media General and LIN/Nexstar, I think that Sinclair will be required to spin off some of the stations. [Hampton Roads, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Portland, Salt Lake City, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Seattle, and Oklahoma City].

Besides KDNL (one of the lowest-rated ABC affiliates), which stations do you think Sinclair should auction away?
 
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According to the FCC, a station owner may not own more than two stations in the same market unless you're PBS. Marketing agreements are fair game, however.

Years ago, I remember reading that station owners may not own two of the top four networks in a metro area.
 
They've allowed duopolies for years now.

NYC: NBC owns WNBC (NBC) and WNJU (Telemundo). FOX owns WNYW (FOX) and WWOR (My Net). Univision owns WXTV (Univision) and Channel 68 the Unimas Station and its satellite station in Smithtown, Long Island. CBS owns WCBS (CBS) and WLNY (IND) in Riverhead, Long Island.

LA: CBS owns KCBS (CBS) and KCAL (IND). FOX owns KTTV (FOX) and KCOP (My Net). Maybe there's more.

Boston: CBS Owns WBZ (CBS) and WSBK (My Net). Sunbeam owns WHDH (IND) and WLVI (CW)

Hartford/New Haven: Tribune owns WTIC-TV (FOX) and WCCT-TV (CW). Nexstar owns WTNH (ABC) and WCTX (My Net)

Philly: NBC owns: WCAU (NBC) and WSSI (Telemundo). CBS owns KYW (CBS) and Channel 57 the CW station.

LPTV's and when digi-nets do not count. So in Springfield, Mass Merideth owns WSHM-LP (CBS), WGGB (ABC), and "FOX 6" which is WGGB 40.2
 
Wow Sinclair will return to Sacramento after 12 years but this time Sinclair gets KTXL-TV 40.

The last Sacramento station that Sinclair owned was in 2005 when they held KOVR 13 a CBS Affiliate. KOVR became a CBS O&O after CBS agreed to sell 610AM San Francisco as part of the deal.
 
Chances are that Sinclair will keep the Fox or well performing stations that Tribune owns while looking at swapping stations to other broadcasters who are willing to give up a market to make this deal happen.
 
MarcB said:
They've allowed duopolies for years now.

NYC: NBC owns WNBC (NBC) and WNJU (Telemundo). FOX owns WNYW (FOX) and WWOR (My Net). Univision owns WXTV (Univision) and Channel 68 the Unimas Station and its satellite station in Smithtown, Long Island. CBS owns WCBS (CBS) and WLNY (IND) in Riverhead, Long Island.

LA: CBS owns KCBS (CBS) and KCAL (IND). FOX owns KTTV (FOX) and KCOP (My Net). Maybe there's more.

Boston: CBS Owns WBZ (CBS) and WSBK (My Net). Sunbeam owns WHDH (IND) and WLVI (CW)

Hartford/New Haven: Tribune owns WTIC-TV (FOX) and WCCT-TV (CW). Nexstar owns WTNH (ABC) and WCTX (My Net)

Philly: NBC owns: WCAU (NBC) and WSSI (Telemundo). CBS owns KYW (CBS) and Channel 57 the CW station.

LPTV's and when digi-nets do not count. So in Springfield, Mass Merideth owns WSHM-LP (CBS), WGGB (ABC), and "FOX 6" which is WGGB 40.2
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in Dallas/Fort Worth you have the following duopolies:
Fox: KDFW Fox 4 and KDFI My27
NBC Universal: KXAS NBC 5 and KXTX Telemundo 39
CBS: KTVT CBS 11 and KTXA (Independent) TXA 21
Univison: KUVN Univison 23 and KSTR UniMas 49.

so DFW has 4 duopolies overall.

and now Sinclair has indeed entered the Dallas/Fort Worth TV market with this Tribune buyout meaning they become the new owners of KDAF CW 33.
 
I already knew that duopolies were legal. Owning three stations is not, though, as NBC once owned three stations in LA alone (KNBC, KVEA, and KWHY) until 2011. And neither is owning two of the top four stations in a metro area. Exceptions may be made with LMA's, which Sinclair has an infamous reputation for doing.
 
MarcB said:
They've allowed duopolies for years now.

LA: CBS owns KCBS (CBS) and KCAL (IND). FOX owns KTTV (FOX) and KCOP (My Net). Maybe there's more.
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A few others--KNBC/KVEA (Telemundo), KMEX (Univision)/KFTR (UniMas), and if you want to really stretch it, the Ulloa brothers own three stations--KVMD, KXLA, KJLA; one brother owns one, the other brother owns the other two. For those outside of L.A., those three stations are nothing but a haven of infomercial and foreign-language subchannels (as well as a waste of bandwidth), and the latter station (KJLA) is the flagship station of the LATV network. Also, albeit with different ownership structures, but KSCI (Asian programming) and KDOC (general independent) are managed by Titan Broadcasting Group.
 
thomwim said:
According to the FCC, a station owner may not own more than two stations in the same market unless you're PBS. Marketing agreements are fair game, however.

Years ago, I remember reading that station owners may not own two of the top four networks in a metro area.
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They may own more than one Big Four station if at the time of purchase, a non-Big Four commercial station is in the top four (see San Antonio, where Sinclair owns both WOAI (NBC) and KABB (FOX) outright as KWEX (Univision) has higher ratings than both WOAI and KABB)
 
I wonder if this means that in 2020, when KDNL's contract with ABC ends, if Sinclair does something in St. Louis, maybe it might be switching affiliates with KPLR (Channel 11, now that they might have KPLR) and KDNL (Channel 30), making KDNL as CW, and KPLR as ABC, because KPLR is performing greatly.

As for KTVI, they would definitely still be Fox, so it's not a reversal of the "big" mid-90s switch. I'm just saying, the 2020 St. Louis affiliation switch might be possible because of this, so take it with a grain of salt, as it's only a possibility, because Sinclair would have to divest either KDNL, KTVI, or KPLR. This theoretical "2020 affiliation switch" is only possible if Sinclair keeps KDNL (ABC) & KPLR (CW) and gives KTVI to someone else (maybe Nexstar or Scripps?)

My opinion, is that this merger is bad, but I'm not going to say why in detail, so all I can say about why I dislike the merger, is for a political reason.
 
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Going to be LMA in West Michigan market Cunningham is going to be FOX17 new owner even know Nexstar owns 2 full power stations WoodTV & WOTV. I would be fine if Nexstar didn't already own 2 power stations holding out hope that Sinclair will sell WXMI to a 3RD party but it's slim and none so FOX17 is a de facto Sinclair station.
 
I wonder what Sinclair will do with WGN-TV the biggie and the radio station too.

Does Sinclair have a lot of experience with running independents?
 
http://www.baltimoresun.com/enterta...tory.html?mc_cid=bbd8dcc868&mc_eid=0a20b5c061

http://www.dailynews.com/business/2...-for-ktla5-employees-viewers-guest-commentary

An editorial is out on how the Sinclair deal affects KTLA Los Angeles on the LA Daily News. Also another article discusses Sinclairs influence to politics

It was announced on Monday morning that Sinclair Broadcast Group had agreed to purchase the Tribune Media television stations for $3.9 billon dollars.

If the deal is approved, local news could take a real hit.

Sinclair is known in the broadcast industry as a company that is very tight with the money. Many of the people you see on the Tribune stations, including WPIX in New York and KTLA in Los Angeles (which has been delivering local news since 1947), may be forced out or told they need to take a salary cut. Some station groups like to run their companies lean ... Sinclair is down right anorexic.

Viewers may soon lose their favorite newscasters to the Sinclair budget ax, and it will be harder for an ex-Sinclair employee to find another job, because Sinclair will own most of the stations.

From an editorial standpoint, the lack of objectivity may end up missing from the Tribune stations.

Right now, when you watch a Tribune station, you get both sides of the story presented in a (sorry, Fox News) fair and balanced way. That likely will not happen with Sinclair because it is a conservative company.

How conservative?

One ex-Sinclair employee told my website, FTVLive, that Sinclair looks at Fox News as being too liberal.


It’s one thing for Fox News to lean right or CNN and MSNBC to lean left. Those are cable news stations and that is part of their fabric. When you watch Fox News, CNN or MSNBC you know you are getting the story with their political leanings attached.

But, when you watch local news, you want to leave the politics aside and just get the story reported to you objectively and without bias. With Sinclair calling the shots, the idea of unbiased news seems unlikely.

Owning the Tribune stations gives Sinclair a much bigger megaphone.

Before the election, Sinclair would never have been able to buy the Tribune stations because of Federal Communications Commission ownership rules. The rules would not let one company own so many stations that their reach would exceed 39 percent of television households in the United States.

If this deal goes through, Sinclair will have about an 80 percent reach. In other words, Sinclair could reach 40 percent more U.S. TV viewers than any other TV ownership group.
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Fox News Liberal?? That is insane though according to the person connected to Sinclair. But given the fact that Fox has removed Ailes, O'Reilly, Bill Shine, and other staff members for Racial issues and Harassment issues I can see why Trump supporters are running away from Fox News to Sinclair talk shows, to Infowars and The Blaze though.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...shepard-smith-slams-president-trump/98023272/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opin...-shepard-smith-trump-alicia-shepard/98152546/
 
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